Another indictment against Donald Trump is imminent after the former president lost another bid to halt his case in Georgia, where the Fulton County district attorney has said charges are “ready to go” in the probe over his efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
Fulton County Superior Judge Robert McBurney issued a ruling on Monday saying that Trump and fake elector Cathy Latham lacked the legal standing to challenge the charges before the indictment had even arrived. Trump’s claim of “injuries,” meanwhile, “are either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized,” McBurney wrote, and the case “unnecessary and unfounded.”
“There will be a time and a forum in which Trump and Latham can raise their concerns,” McBurney wrote, seemingly expressing frustration over the move. “That time is not now and that forum is not here.”
Trump had asked the court to throw out a report on the potential charges from a special purpose grand jury, which appeared to have recommended indictment against Trump earlier this year, and have Willis disqualified. His team had presented a similar case to the Georgia Supreme Court that was unanimously rejected earlier this month.
“Arguments like those being made prematurely in the pending motions can be more effectively (and reasonably) presented and ruled upon when the full picture of who is being charged with what has been painted,” McBurney wrote. “Guessing at what that picture might look like before the investigative dots are connected may be a popular game for the media and blogosphere, but it is not a proper role for the courts and formal legal argumentation.”
The ruling comes as prosecutors are seemingly preparing to indict Trump over his sweeping efforts to overturn the election in Georgia, likely including his infamous call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), in which Trump asked Raffensperger “to find 11,780 votes” to deliver him a win over Joe Biden in the state.
In an interview with Atlanta news outlet 11Alive over the weekend, Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis said that prosecutors are prepared with their investigation and that they can be expected to deliver their decision before September 1. She has previously implied that the decision on an indictment could come as soon as the first half of August.
“The work is accomplished,” Willis said. “We’ve been working for two-and-a-half years. We’re ready to go.”
Sources have said that potential charges could include criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and conspiracy to commit election fraud, solicitation of a public officer to fail to perform their duties and solicitation to destroy, deface or remove ballots. The charges could also include racketeering.
If Trump is indicted, it will likely be one of two indictments brought against him in a matter of just a few weeks, or even a few days, adding to the two existing indictments he’s already faced. Any day now, Trump is expected to be indicted by the Department of Justice over his role in stoking the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and his overall attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Prosecutors in the case, led by special counsel Jack Smith, met with Trump lawyers last week and reportedly told them to expect an indictment.
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