A Fulton County judge on Monday rejected Donald Trump’s motion to quash the special grand jury report on his attempt to overturn the Georgia 2020 election results and to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from the case, CBS News reported.
In his ruling, Fulton County Superior Judge Robert McBurney said that since Trump has not yet been charged, his request is premature.
The former president’s motion was joined by one of the Trump campaign’s fraudulent electors, Cathleen Latham.
Judge McBurney ruled that neither the former president nor Ms. Latham “enjoys standing to mount a challenge” in the “pre-indictment phase.” He explained that no court has ever held that “a highly publicized criminal investigation” alone is a “basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation.”
In response to Trump’s request to disqualify Willis, McBurney noted that the District Attorney has done nothing to warrant her disqualification in the case, explaining that the job her office is doing has been “fairly routine” and “legally unobjectionable.” He said nothing cited in the motion “rises to the level of justifying disqualification” particularly when compared to the “stream of personal invective” that flowed from Trump’s motion.
Willis convened the special grand jury in March 2022 to investigate the efforts of Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. Earlier this year, the panel issued its report unanimously finding that there was no “widespread fraud” in Georgia that would have altered the outcome of the election.
Attorneys for the former president asked the court in March to quash the grand jury findings, arguing that the report was “confusing, flawed, and at times, blatantly unconstitutional.”
Last month, Willis convened a new grand jury to consider charges in the case. In a recent interview, she said her office was “ready to go” and the decision on charges would be coming soon.
