Former President Donald Trump’s legal team filed multiple motions on Monday seeking the dismissal of charges against him in the Georgia election interference case. This marks Trump’s first attempt to have the charges in this case dropped.
These motions put forth arguments that had been previously made by some of Trump’s 18 co-defendants, who are accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, among other crimes. These alleged actions were part of efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
One of the motions adopted an argument presented by Kenneth Chesebro, who is alleged to have developed the legal theory behind the “fake electors” scheme. Chesebro had asked the presiding judge to dismiss the case against him, contending that the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause prevented states from regulating conduct within federal authority.
In this motion, Trump’s lawyers extended Chesebro’s constitutional argument to the racketeering and conspiracy-related charges against Trump himself. Another motion adopted arguments made by former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, which would affect seven of the counts against Trump.
The former president faces a total of 13 criminal counts in the extensive 41-count indictment. All defendants in this case have pleaded not guilty.
These motions come after Trump’s legal team informed the Fulton County Superior Court of their intent to request a potential transfer of the case to federal court. However, similar efforts by Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, have not succeeded.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has expressed her aim to bring all 19 defendants to trial next month. As of now, Chesebro and former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell are scheduled to go to trial beginning on October 23rd, as they requested speedy trials.
