The Georgia Supreme Court’s Unanimous Rejection of Trump’s Petition to Block Election Probe
In a significant development, the Georgia Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the petition filed by former president Donald Trump to prevent an investigation into allegations of election interference in the 2020 election. The petition also sought to invalidate the evidence collected by a special purpose grand jury in the case. Trump’s legal team had requested the court to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis and her office from further probing the claims of election law violations. They also sought to quash the final report of the special grand jury. However, the Supreme Court, in an opinion published late Monday, stated that Trump had not provided sufficient evidence to warrant the court’s intervention in what they deemed as “ordinary channels” of the legal process.
Trump’s attorneys, Drew Findling, Marissa Goldberg, and Jennifer Little, filed nearly identical petitions before both the Georgia Supreme Court and Fulton County Superior Court last week, reiterating arguments made in a previous filing in March. The earlier motion sought to block Willis from the case and dismiss the special grand jury findings. This motion remains pending before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who oversaw the grand jury proceedings.
The Georgia Supreme Court, in its opinion, expressed criticism of Trump’s legal team for bypassing the lower court and directly approaching the highest court in the state. The court stated that petitioners should demonstrate extraordinary circumstances preventing fair access to the ordinary channels of relief before seeking intervention from the Supreme Court. The opinion clarified that Trump did not request the court to compel Judge McBurney to issue a ruling but instead asked the Supreme Court to decide on the pending motions. The court maintained that such relief was not within their purview unless extraordinary circumstances were proven, which Trump failed to establish.
It is important to note that justices of the Georgia Supreme Court are elected in nonpartisan elections for staggered six-year terms, although vacancies can be filled by gubernatorial appointment. Initially, eight out of the nine justices were appointed by Republican governors.
While the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision is a setback for Trump, his petition filed in Fulton County Superior Court remains pending. It is unclear how the opinion of the Supreme Court may impact that case, if at all. Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, Drew Findling, has not provided any immediate comment on the matter.
Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney, has indicated her intention to pursue indictments in the coming weeks. The case is expected to include the evidence gathered by the special grand jury. Although the grand jury lacked the power to issue indictments, it is believed to have recommended multiple indictments in its sealed final report.
In April, Willis wrote a letter to local law enforcement and officials, stating her plan to announce her charging decision between July 11 and September 1, coinciding with the summer term of the latest Fulton County grand juries. In another letter to Fulton County officials, Willis narrowed down the timeframe even further, stating that her staff would work remotely for at least four days a week between July 31 and August 18, which aligns with the grand jury’s work period. She also requested that no in-person proceedings be scheduled at the county’s courthouse during that time.
Recently, two grand jury panels were sworn in to hear criminal cases, with one of them likely to address the election interference case. The developments surrounding this high-profile case have attracted significant attention, and the court proceedings are eagerly anticipated in the coming weeks.
