ATLANTA — In a new court filing, President-Elect Donald Trump asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to dismiss the Fulton County election interference case against him.
The legal request, submitted Wednesday by Trump defense attorney Steve Sadow, argues that "a sitting president is completely immune from indictment or any criminal process."
Given Mr. Trump's impending return to the White House, Sadow argued the Court of Appeals should apply the reasoning and dismiss the charges against him.
The motion relies heavily on standing federal Department of Justice policy -- and its underlying legal theory -- that bars prosecutions of sitting presidents. That policy has not been tested at the state level and little, if any, direct precedent exists.
The Fulton County District Attorney's Office declined to comment when reached Wednesday afternoon about the filing.
The request to dismiss the case comes shortly after two federal cases against the President-Elect were dropped, citing that D.O.J. doctrine.
The Georgia case, which originally included 19 defendants and dozens of charges, was the most sprawling of the criminal cases against the once-and-future president.
Trump and some of the other remaining defendants, who have pleaded not guilty, already had an appeal pending before the Georgia Court of Appeals at the time of this new filing. That group has asked the Court to disqualify Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis from the prosecution or to have the indictment dismissed, arguing that a romantic relationship she had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade constituted an impermissible conflict of interest.
Willis and Wade acknowledged that they had a relationship but have said it began after he was hired and ended before the indictment against Trump was filed. The D.A.'s office has opposed the appellate effort to disqualify her from the prosecution.
The Georgia Court of Appeals is expected to rule on that matter by mid-March.