Attorneys for President-elect Donald Trump asked a Georgia appeals court Wednesday to dismiss the Fulton County racketeering case against him because a "sitting president is completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal."
In papers filed with the Georgia Court of Appeals, Trump's attorneys argued the 2020 election interference charges should be tossed because of "the unconstitutionality of his continued indictment and prosecution by the State of Georgia" now that "he is President-Elect and will soon become the 47th President of the United States."
The case has been stalled for most of the year as Trump's lawyers have challenged a ruling that denied their request to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office from prosecuting the case on conflict-of-interest grounds.
The appeals court had been set to hear arguments on Willis' disqualification this week but abruptly canceled the hearing without explanation last month.
In their filing, Trump lawyers Steven Sadow, Jennifer Little and Matthew Winchester contended Trump's election win is grounds to throw the case out altogether. They cited a Justice Department legal memo that held that presidents can't be prosecuted while they're in office. The Justice Department relied on the memo in deciding to dismiss two federal criminal cases against Trump last month, but the Georgia case is a state case, not a federal case.
The Trump filing maintained the same principles should apply regardless and urged the judges to take action "well before the inauguration of President Trump."
The appeals court "should dismiss his appeal for lack of jurisdiction with directions to the trial court to immediately dismiss the indictment against President Trump," the filing said.
The DA's office declined a request for comment.
The Georgia case was one of what was once four criminal cases against Trump. The federal classified documents and election interference cases were officially dismissed last month. Trump was convicted on felony charges in a New York case this year, but his sentencing has been put on indefinite hold as the judge weighs Trump's motions to dismiss that case.
