Trump gets bad news on election probes from special counsel Jack Smith and Georgia Supreme Court

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Criminal Justice Trump gets bad news on election probes from special counsel Jack Smith and Georgia Supreme Court

By Debra Cassens Weiss

July 18, 2023, 9:47 am CDT

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Former President Donald Trump may be nearing possible indictments on two fronts in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Photo by Evan Vucci/The Associated Press.

Former President Donald Trump may be nearing possible indictments on two fronts in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

In Georgia on Monday, Trump lost a bid to prevent evidence obtained in a probe of election interference from being presented to a grand jury that can issue indictments.

Then on Tuesday, Trump confirmed that he was facing a possible federal indictment in connection with his efforts to stay in office after the election. In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump said “deranged” special counsel Jack Smith had informed him in a letter that he is a target of a Jan. 6, 2021, grand jury investigation, the New York Times reports.

Trump wrote that Smith is “giving me a very short 4 days to report to the grand jury, which almost always means an arrest and indictment.”

In the state case, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that Trump had not shown “extraordinary circumstances” needed for the state supreme court to rule before lower courts had a chance to consider Trump’s claims.

The Associated Press, CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times are among the publications with coverage.

“A petitioner cannot invoke this court’s original jurisdiction as a way to circumvent the ordinary channels for obtaining the relief he seeks without making some showing that he is being prevented fair access to those ordinary channels,” the Georgia Supreme Court said.

Even if Trump had shown that extraordinary circumstances were present, he has not shown that he is entitled to the relief that he seeks based on the facts or the law, the state supreme court said.

Trump had asked the state supreme court to disqualify Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani T. Willis.

She has presented evidence to a special purpose grand jury, which may issue a report but has no power to bring charges. Trump wanted to quash that report and to prevent evidence obtained from the special purpose grand jury from being presented to a grand jury with the authority to bring charges.

Trump contends that the special purpose grand jury scheme in Georgia violates his constitutional rights because it is so vague. He also contends that Willis has a conflict of interest because she has signaled her intent to use the special purpose grand jury evidence to obtain indictments.

Trump has also asked a superior court judge to disqualify Willis and quash the special purpose grand jury report. Judge Robert McBurney has not yet ruled on the request.

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