A Georgia judge wasn’t having Donald Trump‘s latest attempt to shut down the investigation into his alleged election tampering following the 2020 presidential race.
The former president is reportedly facing an indictment after being caught on tape pressuring election officials to find him votes. However, because he hasn’t been indicted yet, Trump’s legal team attempted to argue that it’s unfair for Georgia prosecutors to continue investigating him. Needless to say, this did not fly with the judge.
“[W]hile being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in a nine-page ruling.
McBurney has spent a year overseeing District Attorney Fani Willis’ grand jury investigation, so he knows the ins and outs of the case. He also knows that Trump is making bank off the accusations, and McBurney made a point to note that in his ruling.
Via Politico:
In an aside, McBurney made a clear reference to Trump’s effort to capitalize on his legal troubles as well: “And for some, being the subject of a criminal investigation can, a la Rumpelstiltskin, be turned into golden political capital, making it seem more providential than problematic.”
This latest setback for Trump arrives on the heels of Rudy Giuliani admitting that he lied about Georgia election workers stealing votes in a suitcase. In an effort to stave off significant damage from a lawsuit filed by said workers, Giuliani admitted in court that he made “false statements” to advance Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
That admission is probably going to spell more trouble for Trump, who, again, was caught on tape pressuring Georgia officials to help him overturn the state’s election results.
(Via Politico)