The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether Donald Trump and his allies broke any laws as they tried to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state has fought back against the former president’s attempt to remove her from the case and exclude evidence. https://t.co/VVL3Gw9jzG — The Associated Press (@AP) May 16, 2023 Fani Willis is having …
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The special grand jury, which did not have the power to issue indictments, was seated last May and dissolved in January after hearing from 75 witnesses and submitting a report with recommendations for Willis. Though most of that report remains under wraps for now according to a judge’s order, the panel’s foreperson has said without naming names that the special grand jury recommended charging multiple people.
Trump lawyers Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg argued that the special grand jury “involved a constant lack of clarity as to the law, inconsistent applications of basic constitutional protections for individuals being brought before it, and a prosecutor’s office that was found to have an actual conflict, yet continued to pursue the investigation.”…
In her motion Monday, Willis asked that McBurney retain supervision of the matter and urged that Trump and Latham’s motions be dismissed or denied without holding a hearing.
Willis wrote that the arguments put forth in the motions fail to meet the “exacting standards” for disqualifying a prosecutor and they also fail to prove their claims that their own due process rights have been violated or that the grand jury process was “tainted” or the law governing it unconstitutional.
Trump and Latham “are not content to follow the ordinary course of the law,” Willis wrote…
Willis last month sent letters to local law enforcement leaders advising them to prepare for “heightened security” as she intends to announce charging decisions in the case between July 11 and Sept. 1. To secure an indictment, she needs to bring the case before a regular grand jury…
You are not nearly as special as you would like to believe, MAGAts. MSNBC’s Jordan Rubin, “Fani Willis trashes Trump’s attempt to quash special grand jury report”:
… In a legal filing Monday, Willis didn’t mince words in responding to motions from Trump and one of the Georgia “fake electors,” Cathy Latham, who joined in the long-shot legal effort.
They tried to throw a kitchen sink of legal arguments at the probe — that the judge should be kicked off the case; that Willis should be kicked off the case; that the special grand jury was tainted and its report should be quashed and expunged from the record; and that any use of evidence presented to the special grand jury should be prohibited.
Willis threw it all right back at them, telling the judge that Trump and Latham raised arguments “for which they have no standing” or “which have no basis in law at all.” The prosecutor basically said that Trump wants to be above the law, writing that he and Latham “seek to ‘restrain’ a criminal investigation before any charges are filed or even sought; they ask that the judicial system place them above and apart from the common administration of the criminal law.”
And if Willis’ thrashing weren’t enough, several media companies submitted their own filing Monday, telling the judge that quashing the special grand jury report would be “unsupported by any legal basis.”…
Even if Judge Robert McBurney indulges Trump’s timeline request, the next big practical question for the judge may be whether he holds a hearing on the matter before ruling. But at this point, barring an unexpected move by McBurney, there’s no reason to think that Willis is in danger of missing her summer time frame for announcing charging decisions.
Also, too:
A Wisconsin judge on Monday refused to break up a lawsuit filed against 10 fake electors for former President Donald Trump and two of his attorneys, saying the case could proceed in the county where it was filed. https://t.co/Kv79D8CZ0I
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 16, 2023
Another batch of lost lambs left abandoned by their God-Emperor…
… The lawsuit seeks $2.4 million from the fake electors and their attorneys, alleging they were part of a conspiracy by Trump and his allies to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential race. It also seeks to disqualify the Republicans from ever serving as electors again.
Fake electors met in Wisconsin and other battleground states where Trump was defeated in 2020, attempting to cast ballots for the former president even though he lost. Republicans who participated in Wisconsin said they were trying to preserve Trump’s legal standing in case courts overturned his defeat.
Nine of the 10 fake electors in Wisconsin, and one of Trump’s attorneys, argued that the lawsuit against them was wrongly filed in Dane County Circuit Court. Since none of them lived in that county, they argued, the lawsuit should be refiled against each of them in their respective home counties.
But Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington disagreed on Monday, saying the lawsuit was properly filed because, in part, at least one of the defendants appears to live in Dane County or does not present evidence to the contrary…
“Although likely not the last, this was just the latest effort to delay any type of accountability,” said Law Forward attorney Scott Thompson. “We are pleased this matter will be resolved in the Dane County Courthouse, just one block from where the fake electors scheme was carried out.”
Attorneys for the fake electors did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment…