Trump asked the Georgia Justice Department to drop most of the charges against him. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)
Lawyers for former President of the United States, Donald Trump, asked a court in Georgia on Monday to drop most of the charges the Republican faces for his alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 elections in the southern state.
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The former president’s representatives filed several petitions before Judge Scott McAfee in Fulton County, asking him to adopt the same legal arguments presented by two of the 18 Trump associates who also face charges for trying to disrupt the elections.
Specifically, Trump’s legal team asked to adopt in his case the same legal defense that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and lawyer Kenneth Chesebro presented to argue that the charges be dropped.
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Chesebro’s defense argued last week before Judge McAfee that the US Constitution prohibited states from criminalizing actions that fall under “federal authority.”
Fulton County Senior Judge Scott McAfee. (Jason Getz/REUTERS)
The former president’s lawyers assured in the document presented this Monday that this same exception applies to several of the charges against Trump, including those of conspiracy.
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There are 13 charges against the former president. The main one, violation of the state criminal association law (RICO), is known to be used against members of the mafia and used to ensure that the leaders of a criminal association, and not just their subordinates, , be accountable to justice.
This action by Trump’s legal team comes days after his lawyers notified Judge McAfee that they are considering asking that the case be moved from state to federal court.
His lawyers have a period of 30 days to make the request formal, which began on August 31, when Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Trump was recently indicted by the Georgia Justice on 13 charges. (Europa Press)
Although Trump has four criminal charges against him, the one from Georgia is the one that most complicates the former president’s chances of getting out of jail since, being a state case, it would not allow him to pardon himself if he arrives again. to power after the 2024 elections.
Under the US Constitution, a president cannot be pardoned in a state impeachment and, in the case of Georgia, neither could the governor pardon him.
If found guilty of all charges, the former Republican president could be sentenced to up to 76 and a half years in prison.
One of the main pieces of evidence against him is the recording of a call from January 2021 in which he asked the Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” him 11,780 votes, one more than Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump’s legal team also presented, at the beginning of this week, a motion for the judge who will try him in Washington for electoral interference, Tanya Chutkan, to get out of the case.
“Now is not the time for the American people to question the impartiality of a judge. Rather, the Court should ensure that the public remains with unwavering confidence in its decisions and in its commitment to a fair and impartial administration of justice,” he said in his brief justifying his request.
Trump presented a motion for the judge who will try him in Washington for electoral interference, Tanya Chutkan, to get out of the case.
Trump is charged in Washington with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempted obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
The accusation established that, after losing the November 3, 2020 elections to Democrat Joe Biden, the then president embarked on a conspiracy to “reverse the legitimate results” of the 2020 presidential elections with false allegations that there was electoral fraud. and multiple stratagems.
Chutkan decided on August 28 that the trial begin on March 4, 2024, one day before Super Tuesday, the closest thing there is in the United States to a national primary, since more than a dozen states will simultaneously hold internal processes to elect Republican and Democratic presidential candidates.
(With information from EFE)