Former President Donald Trump is moving to have the election interference charges against him in Georgia thrown out, arguing he’s protected by presidential immunity.
Trump has made the same argument in the federal election interference case against him, which has been paused until an appeals court hears arguments on Trump’s claim on Tuesday.
“The indictment is barred by presidential immunity and should be dismissed with prejudice,” the Fulton County Superior Court filing Monday said, arguing “the power to indict a current or former President for official acts does not exist.”
Prosecutors have argued that Trump was acting outside the scope of his duties when he pressured officials in the state to reject the 2020 election results in the state, which Joe Biden won.
Trump also filed two other motions to dismiss the case on Monday, one arguing the charges violate his rights to due process and the other contending it exposes him to double jeopardy.
The due process motion claims that Trump didn’t have fair notice that he was doing anything illegal by pushing his stolen election claims. Separately, his attorneys also argue the case should be tossed because he was tried and acquitted on related charges before the U.S. Senate during his second impeachment, citing double jeopardy.
Trump is facing felony racketeering and conspiracy charges for trying to subvert the 2020 election results in Georgia. He is among 19 defendants charged last August by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The former president has pleaded not guilty and maintains the case is part of a political “witch hunt” against him.
“President Trump has filed three persuasive, meritorious pretrial motions seeking a complete dismissal of the indictment and thus an end to the Fulton County District Attorney’s politically-based prosecution,” Trump attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement.
The DA’s office declined to comment. Willis, a Democrat, has denied that the case is politically motivated and said she charged Trump and the 18 co-defendants in his case because they broke Georgia law.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
