President-elect Donald Trump is seeking to dismiss his Fulton County court case in Georgia due to a “lack of jurisdiction.”
Trump and his legal team filed the motion with the Georgia Court of Appeals on Dec. 4, claiming there is limited jurisdiction as he will soon be the 47th President of the United States, citing presidential immunity. “President Trump has filed a motion requesting the Georgia Court of Appeals confirm its lack of jurisdiction to continue hearing his appeal now that he is President-Elect and will soon become the 47th President of the United States, and then direct the trial court to immediately dismiss the case,” the motion read, filed by attorney Steve Sadow.
“The filing states that any ongoing criminal proceeding against a sitting president must be dismissed under the U.S. Constitution. The two federal criminal cases have already been dismissed by the DOJ.”
According to the filing, Trump is “completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal.” The court has also been asked to consider Trump’s case before he is sworn into office in January 2025.
The filing comes just days after Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis was asked to hand over all communications with special counsel Jack Smith. The two offices were instructed to prosecute the four-time indicted businessman separately.
Trump’s criminal case in Georgia has been on hold for months as the Court of Appeals is still preparing arguments to see if Willis can stay on the case. With racketeering charges on the line, the case will continue contingent on whether the DA is disqualified due to a romantic relationship with her former special prosecutor coming to light in early 2024. According to CNN, the ruling is expected to be handed down by early spring 2025.
While Sadow continues to push that “any ongoing criminal proceeding against a sitting president must be dismissed under the U.S. Constitution,” co-defendants involved in the case are seeking to get off. Attorney Kenneth Chesebro is seeking to have his guilty plea invalidated after being charged with being involved with the election conspiracy. In October 2023, Cheseboro pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents.
However, on Dec. 3, his attorney filed a post-conviction challenge on the charge’s validity and asked for the conviction to be thrown out, citing Judge Scott McAfee’s decision in September 2024 to dismiss some of the charges. “This Court held that Count 15 … is unconstitutional as applied to the facts alleged in the indictment,” the filing said.
McAfee sentenced Chesebro to five years probation and ordered him to pay $5,000 in restitution. In exchange, Chesebro agreed to testify in future court proceedings.
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