Former President Donald Trump's legal defense team has worked overtime to navigate his growing mountain of legal obstacles as his 2024 presidential campaign kicks into full gear.
While they've made tremendous progress on that front, they recently took a loss as far as their attempt to quash a future indictment out of Georgia, with a judge ruling this week that it's simply too soon to pursue such a request when he hasn't actually been indicted yet.
According to Politico, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney explained his rejection in a nine-page ruling.
"[W]hile being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation," the judge wrote.
He added: "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."
In a separate attempt earlier this year, Trump's lawyers attempted to have the case shut down through the state's high court, but failed to do so.
Notably, the judge also made a reference to Trump's soaring popularity thanks in part to the seemingly never-ending string of charges he faces.
"And for some, being the subject of a criminal investigation can, a la Rumpelstiltskin, be turned into golden political capital, making it seem more providential than problematic," the judge said.
Georgia judge rejects Donald Trump's efforts to toss out a case related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state@LeoFeldmanNEWS pic.twitter.com/XLqh0sndy4
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) August 1, 2023
Politico added:
Willis has signaled that she is likely to make final charging decisions in August, and it’s widely believed she will recommend charges against Trump and a potentially long list of enablers who aided his bid to subvert the election results in Georgia and several other states won by Joe Biden. That’s when Trump can make his motions to challenge the proceedings that led to the charges, McBurney said.
Trump has long insisted that the Georgia case, related to the 2020 election, is no different than the other cases he faces, including a state indictment out of New York and a federal indictment, claiming all of them are simply political weapons being used against his 2024 presidential ambitions.
On Tuesday, the former president was indicted once again by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who charged the president over statements he made before the Jan. 6 Capitol protest.
So far, the indictments haven't hurt Trump in the polling, as he still dominates the GOP field of contenders.
Only time will tell how big of a fight the Georgia case will be, but it's clear that Trump's lawyers are making every legal move they can to derail it.
