Willis admits they were once together but insists she has done nothing wrong,and in a fiery televised hearing last month,appeared in court to hit out at the lawyers defending Trump and his allies,who are now seeking to have her dismissed from the case.
“You’re confused. You think I’m on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020,” she said during her heated testimony. “I’m not on trial,no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.”
However,the ruling is yet another a victory for Trump,who on Tuesday night clinched enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination to run for office four years after he was ousted after one term.
Last week,for instance,the US Supreme Courtthrew out an attempt by Colorado to remove him from the ballot in that state on the grounds that he incited an insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6,2021.
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The conservative-dominated court also agreed to hear his claim that he should be immune from another election subversion trial that Special Counsel Jack Smith had hoped to begin this month.
Now,oral arguments won’t be heard until mid-April,making it extremely unlikely that the trial will take place before the November poll.
And in the classified documents trial Trump faces,Judge Aileen Cannon,who Trump appointed while he was president,is set to decide within days whether that case can go ahead in July as planned.
She has already suggested that she did not see the case as being ready for trial,telling lawyers that “a lot of work” remains to be done.
Trump faced 91 criminal charges across four trials,but McAfee’s order removes three of the 13 he faced in Georgia,plus another three for his co-defendants. But his litany of legal woes have done little to dampen enthusiasm for the former president among his devoted base.
During Republican primary races across the country over the past few months,many of his fans told this masthead that they believe he is the victim of a political witch-hunt and that the 2020 election was indeed stolen.
“The court system is corrupt,” South Carolina resident Amy Walters said,in a sentiment shared by many others. “But he’s standing up for himself – and us. He’s not a politician,he’s not a globalist,he’s not deep state. He’s his own person,and he thinks for himself.”
Boiled down,Judge McAfee’s decision in Georgia found that prosecutors had charged Trump and others with asking Georgia officials to violate the Constitution,without adequately specifying any underlying constitutional provision.
The ruling does not mean the case is dismissed,as the judge left the door open for the decision to be appealed or for a new indictment to be presented,although this would further delay the trial.
One of the quashed charges relates to the call demanding Raffensperger find enough votes so Trump could flip the results.
The second relates to another call Trump made to a co-defendant urging him to convene a special session of the Georgia legislature to reverse Biden’s narrow victory.
And the third involves a letter Trump sent to Raffensperger in September 2021,calling on him to overturn the election “and announce the true winner”.
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