Trump Petition to Disqualify Fani Willis Is ‘Absurd’: Kirschner

Former President Donald Trump‘s petition to disqualify the Georgia district attorney investigating 2020 election interference was called “absurd” by legal analyst Glenn Kirschner.

Trump has been under investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis regarding attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Willis is expected to announce whether charges will be filed against the former president and his associates next month.

However, Trump’s defense team has asked two different courts in the state—including the Georgia Supreme Court—to disqualify Willis from investigating him, and asked that the special grand jury report, which concluded this year that Trump and his allies attempted to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results, be quashed.

Trump’s legal team argues in the 36-page petition that Willis is seeking an indictment against Trump based off “unlawfully obtained” evidence. Kirschner, however, called the unusual move “an absurd, laughable petition” by Trump’s lawyers, adding that he expects the Georgia Supreme Court to deny the request without comment.

“It is an embarrassment,” Kirschner said during Friday’s episode of his Justice Matters podcast. “It is frivolous. It is filed, you know, potentially in bad faith.”

“I don’t think this causes District Attorney Fani Willis to pause for even one second,” he added. “Things will remain on track, I predict, for those indictments to be returned in Georgia in August.”

Trump’s petition comes just three days after Fulton County Superior Court sworn in two grand juries that could vote on whether the former president should be indicted in Willis’ investigation. The district attorney’s probe has largely focused on a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in January 2021, asking him to “find” enough votes for him to be declared the winner over President Joe Biden.

Willis has also indicated that Trump’s alleged fake elector scheme, which is also part of the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump’s actions leading up to the January 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol, is another key aspect of her probe.

Trump has maintained that Willis’ investigation is nothing but another “hoax,” a similar argument he has made regarding several other criminal investigations against him as he attempts a reelection bid to the White House. Newsweek reached out to Trump’s press team via email Friday night for comment on the petition.

In the previous Georgia grand jury, which spent over a month hearing evidence and witness testimony apart from Willis’ probe, Trump was among several recommended to be indicted.

“I will tell you that if the judge releases the recommendations, it is not going to be some giant plot twist,” said Emily Kohrs, member of the special grand jury who spoke to The New York Times in February. “You probably have a fair idea of what may be in there. I’m trying very hard to say that delicately.”

Source : Newsweek