By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) – Georgia’s highest court on Monday dismissed former President Donald Trump’s latest effort to block an investigation into whether he and his allies unlawfully sought to interfere with the state’s 2020 election, weeks before prosecutors seek formal charges.
Court records showed the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously denied the motion, filed last week by Trump’s attorneys, that sought to disqualify Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis and quash a report grand jury special that recommended indictments against certain people.
The report remained largely under seal while Willis finalizes his investigation. The special panel, which did not have the power to issue its own indictments, produced the report after interviewing about 75 witnesses over the course of nine months, including some of the state’s top officials.
Willis’ investigation began shortly after a taped January 2021 phone call in which Trump urged Georgia’s top election official to “find” enough votes to undo Democrat Joe Biden’s nationwide victory. state, falsely claiming that widespread fraud had tainted the results.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied any wrongdoing and accused Willis, an elected Democrat, of targeting him for political reasons.
Willis told local officials she will seek indictments in the case from a regular grand jury in August.
Trump’s attorneys previously filed a separate motion asking the state judge who oversaw the grand jury to quash his report and disqualify Willis from the case. The judge has not yet ruled on this request.
Trump became the first former US president to face criminal charges in March when New York prosecutors charged him with falsifying business records to conceal silent money payments to a porn star who said he had had an affair with him. Trump denied his account.
He was charged separately in federal court in June with unlawfully retaining classified documents after leaving office and obstructing efforts to recover them.
He pleaded not guilty in both cases.
(Report by Joseph Ax)