President-elect Donald Trump and his legal team filed a motion Wednesday, asking the Georgia Court of Appeals to toss the state's election interference case against him on the grounds "a sitting president is completely immune from indictment or any criminal process." File Photo by Tami Chappell/UPI |
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Dec. 4 (UPI) -- President-elect Donald Trump's legal team is asking the Georgia Court of Appeals to toss the state's election interference case against him on the grounds prosecution is unconstitutional.
"Trump has filed a motion requesting the Georgia Court of Appeals confirm its lack of jurisdiction to continue hearing his appeal now that he is president-elect and will soon become the 47th President of the United States, and then direct the trial court to immediately dismiss the case," Steve Sadow, Trump's lead attorney, wrote Wednesday in a five-page notice.
"A sitting president is completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal," as Sadow said prosecutors are prohibited from interfering with a president's official duties.
"This is particularly true where, as here, there is compelling evidence of local bias and political prejudice against the president by the local prosecutor, who not only answers to a tiny segment of the American electorate but is acting in clear opposition to the will of the citizens of Georgia as reflected by the recent election results," Sadow added.
Wednesday's call for dismissal comes one day after a Georgia judge ordered Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis -- who is prosecuting the election interference case -- to release records from special counsel Jack Smith and the House Select Committee of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots to a conservative legal watchdog group.
Willis is overseeing the last remaining active criminal case against Trump after the former president was accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last year.
The Georgia Court of Appeals delayed the case earlier this year as Willis fought calls for her disqualification following claims of a romantic relationship with the former lead prosecutor and a financial conflict of interest.
"Any ongoing criminal proceeding against a sitting president must be dismissed under the U.S. Constitution," Sadow demanded. "The two federal criminal cases have already been dismissed by the DOJ."
Last week, a federal judge threw out Trump's federal election interference case after Smith moved to dismiss the case following the election. A federal appeals court also tossed the government's ongoing appeal of Smith's classified documents case as Justice Department policy bans prosecution of a sitting president.
On Tuesday, Trump requested his criminal hush money case in New York also be dismissed over claims it "threatens the functioning of federal government."
