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Former President Donald Trump's case in Fulton County, Georgia, may be in jeopardy as he continues to appeal different court decisions and seeks to delay other legal cases, according to legal analyst John Malcolm on Monday.
Trump, the frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, is currently facing several legal cases both on the state and federal level including an indictment from the Department of Justice (DOJ) where the former president is accused of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that led to the events of the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
Trump, without any evidence, claimed the election was stolen from him due to widespread voter fraud. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has appealed a ruling from Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case and who refused that he had presidential immunity that claims he can't be charged with acts committed while in office. Chutkan has scheduled a March 4, 2024, trial date for Trump.
While speaking with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Malcolm, a former federal prosecutor, said on Monday that if the appeals court in Washington, D.C,. rules that Trump should have presidential immunity, the case against him in Fulton County "largely collapses." Malcolm also currently serves as the vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation. In 2019, Malcolm was nominated by Trump to serve on the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC).
In August 2023, Trump and 18 other co-defendants were indicted and accused of violating the Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. Trump has also maintained his innocence in the the case, which was brought by District Attorney Fani Willis. Prosecutors are seeking a trial date of August 5, 2024, just three months before the general election.
While speaking with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in December, Willis said, "I think we're in a good place," regarding issues relating to a possible ruling on presidential immunity.
On Monday, Tamar Hallerman, a reporter for the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, shared a court filing on X, formerly Twitter, showing Trump's legal team requesting that the Fulton County case be dismissed because of presidential immunity.
"From 1789 to 2023, no President ever faced criminal prosecution for acts committed while in office. That unbroken historic tradition of presidential immunity is rooted in the separation of powers and the text of the Constitution," the filing said.
While speaking with Newsweek on Monday, Michael McAuliffe, a former federal prosecutor and a former elected state attorney, said Trump's defense team "is hoping that the immunity issue provides a complete shield, but if not, still have the prosecutors and the courts expend significant time and attention in resolving the issue."
McAuliffe continued: "There is scant support in the Constitution or otherwise to conclude a president is immune from criminal prosecution in all circumstances, but it's an issue that demands careful scrutiny and a clear, cogent decision by the court."
He also noted that the Washington D.C. Court of Appeals has previously asked those involved in Trump's case to discuss how "presidential immunity might not be ripe to address prior to any conviction."
According to McAuliffe, if the appellate court rules that presidential immunity will not be addressed before a conviction, "the trial might be able to proceed without delay and the issue––ironically––would be deferred in a way that doesn't help Trump."
"The Georgia state RICO will be impacted by both the outcome of the immunity issue and the timing of any immunity decision. It too early to tell how the cascading effects of the federal appeals will influence the Georgia trial date. However, we know the cases all share two things—the presidential immunity issue and the same defendant," he added.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
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About the writer
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more