Donald Trump’s latest attempt to thwart an investigation into alleged election interference has been rejected by a Georgia state judge.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney denied Trump’s plea to preemptively block the investigation and any future indictments in a nine-page ruling on Monday in which he dismissed the former president’s claims that politics and publicity had tainted the probe.
In his ruling, Judge McBurney said Trump cannot claim investigative misconduct before an indictment has even been filed.
He also rejected the idea that the case’s high profile was hindering Trump, pointing out how some politicians have the ability to transform scandal into political capital, “a la Rumpelstiltskin.”
“[W]hile being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicised 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,” wrote McBurney.
“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,” he went on.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began investigating Trump and his associates in January 2021 after Trump was recorded asking Georgia’s top election official, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes to flip the state red during a private phone call.
The investigation further claims Trump was involved in a scheme to send false electors to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election results and that his associates pushed local officials to give them “unauthorised access” to election equipment.
Earlier this month, the Georgia Supreme Court threw out another attempt to block the election interference investigation. In its ruling, the court said Trump’s team had not demonstrated any “extraordinary circumstances” impacting the case.
Trump is currently juggling legal issues in three different states and the District of Columbia.
In June, he was indicted on 37 charges in Miami after an investigation into his alleged mishandling of government documents.
New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed an indictment against Trump in April, accusing him of money laundering and campaign finance violations for an alleged hush money scheme involving adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Additionally, the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attacks voted to refer Trump to the Justice Department for prosecution last December for inciting the violent 2021 riots at the US Capitol.