ATLANTA — A Washington, D.C. hearing could decide if former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution here in Atlanta.
This comes as attorneys for one of Trump’s codefendants are accusing the Fulton County District Attorney of having an improper relationship with her special prosecutor.
Trump claims he is immune from prosecution because the alleged crimes happened while he was president.
A federal appeals court will decide that.
Trump’s attorneys are making the same claim in Georgia, so that decision in Washington will affect what happens here.
Trump walked out of court alongside his attorneys Tuesday who argued that he cannot be prosecuted because of so-called presidential immunity.
Otherwise, they say, presidents could be prosecuted for policy decisions once out of office.
“When they talk about a threat to democracy, that’s a threat to democracy. And I feel that as a president, you have to have immunity,” Trump said.
But the judges seemed very skeptical of the argument.
One said, “I think it’s paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed allows him to violate criminal laws.”
Just 24 hours earlier, Trump’s Georgia attorneys filed a motion for dismissal also claiming presidential immunity.
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Georgia State University constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis thinks that federal decision will affect the case here in Georgia.
“I think, by and large, whatever decision comes out of the federal court will be followed by Judge (Scott) McAfee here in Fulton County,” Kreis said.
At the same time, another election interference defendant filed a motion accusing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of having an improper romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, and of improperly using public monies for private gain -- something Trump talked about Tuesday.
“Now, it turns out that the case is totally compromised. In fact, they say she’s in far more criminal liability than she’s looking at,” Trump said.
But the filing contains little direct evidence to support the allegations.
Kreis said until there’s evidence, the motion is more politically damaging than legally damaging.
“What we really have to wait for is hard evidence, and right now innuendo and you know, allegations, even if they have a whiff of truth to them, that’s not evidence. So we have to let the process play out,” Kreis said.
There was no decision on the immunity question on Tuesday.
In a statement issued by the Georgia GOP, party leaders urged for an immediate halt to current criminal proceedings, pending an investigation in the alleged conduct of both the DA and special prosecutor. The statement, signed by party leader Josh McKoon, said the “bombshell allegations” were a shock.
“While we pointed out the naked politics of the case brought by D.A. Willis from the beginning, these new revelations raise new and important questions about why these indictments were issued in the first place,” McKoon said in part, posing further that the allegations could include “perhaps even criminal conduct...along with any others that aided them in this alleged scheme.”
Willis’ office reiterated that they plan to answer these accusations by Michael Roman in upcoming court filings.
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