Trump drops motion seeking removal of Georgia DA probing efforts to overturn election
Former President Donald Trump has dropped his remaining motion to have the Fulton County district attorney investigating efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia removed from the case.
Trump's motion to have District Attorney Fani Willis removed from the case was originally filed earlier this month and was scheduled to be heard before a judge on Aug. 10.
Trump's motion to dismiss, which was filed Thursday night, comes after a judge in Georgia last week issued a scathing ruling denying a similar motion seeking the removal of the DA that been filed by Trump's team in March.
MORE: Timeline: Criminal probe into Trump's efforts to overturn Georgia election results
In the dismissal filing Thursday, Trump's attorneys said they were only filing the new motion because the earlier one "had been left undecided" and "the forthcoming harm to the petitioner became manifestly imminent"-- but the judge's ruling last week means the effort has now been "satisfied," the filing stated.
However Trump's attorneys made clear in the filing that they intend to continue their effort to seek relief elsewhere, writing that "the Petitioner hereby dismisses his Petition and will pursue his valid legal claims in the appropriate channels and forums as permitted under the law."
"Although the Petitioner does not agree with the Supervising Judge's analysis or ruling, there are now other channels to seek judicial review of the underlying arguments," the filing states.
Willis officially launched her probe in February 2021, sparked in part by the now-infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump pleaded with Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes," the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.
Trump has publicly denounced the investigation and has denied all wrongdoing, including in his phone call to Raffensperger.
Last week Willis signaled that an indictment of the former president could be imminent, saying that her "work is accomplished."
"We've been working for two and a half years -- we're ready to go," Willis said.