President-elect Donald Trump is asking an appeals court to throw out his own action against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
In a Wednesday filing, Trump asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to dismiss the Fulton County election interference case against him now that he has been elected the next president of the United States.
"A sitting president is completely immune from indictment or any criminal
process, state or federal," the filing reads. "The Constitution forbids 'plac[ing] into the hands of a single prosecutor and grand jury the practical power to interfere with the ability of a popularly elected President to carry out his constitutional functions.'"
Newsweek reached out to Willis' office via email.
The filing comes less than two weeks after Special Counsel Jack Smith dropped both the federal cases against Trump. Lawyers for the president-elect also urged the judge overseeing his Manhattan criminal case to dismiss the indictment against him in the hush money case, per a filing made public on Tuesday.
Trump is facing 10 charges in Georgia for his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the state's 2020 election. Eighteen of his allies were indicted alongside him in the sweeping racketeering case.
The case in Fulton County has been on hold as the Georgia Court of Appeals weighs whether or not Willis should remain on the prosecution.
Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the case, ruled earlier this year that she could stay on the case if Nathan Wade, a special counsel hired onto the case, resigned. Willis and Wade were accused of having an improper relationship after one of Trump's co-defendants revealed in a filing that the two were romantically involved. They have since admitted to being in a relationship but denied claims it was a conflict of interest.
Trump and his allies asked the appeals court to review McAfee's decision. The court was expected to hold a hearing on Thursday, but it was canceled last month "until further order of this court."
"Accordingly, well before the inauguration of President Trump, this Court
should inquire into its jurisdiction to continue to hear this appeal," Trump attorney Steve Saddow said in Wednesday's filing. "That inquiry should result in this Court deciding that both this Court and the trial court lack jurisdiction to entertain any further criminal process against President Trump as the continued indictment and prosecution of President Trump by the State of Georgia are unconstitutional.
"President Trump respectfully submits that upon reaching that decision, this Court should dismiss his appeal for lack of jurisdiction with directions to the trial court to immediately dismiss the indictment against President Trump," Saddow said.
The Department of Justice has a long-standing policy that criminal proceedings against a sitting president undermine the separation of powers and violate the supremacy clause of the Constitution.
Although Smith has dismissed the cases against Trump, the special counsel asked an appeals court to restore his power last week, arguing that his appointment was constitutional despite a July ruling from Judge Aileen Cannon that found otherwise.
In the New York case—the only case that has resulted in a trial and conviction against Trump—the president-elect's sentencing was postponed indefinitely.
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