ATLANTA/WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) – Donald Trump’s lawyers defended the former US President for the first time at a hearing on charges of election interference in the state of Georgia. Trump himself was not present at the meeting on Friday in Atlanta. Trump’s lawyer Steve Sadow called a trial during next year’s election campaign “election interference” and called for the charges to be dropped. The public prosecutor rejected the allegations. Trump wants to move back into the White House after the election next year. The hearing was about, among other things, the date for the start of the actual trial. This is expected for 2024.
In Georgia, Trump was indicted along with 18 other defendants over his attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in the state. The Republican is also being charged at the federal level in a separate case for his efforts to subsequently overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Some of Trump’s former associates have entered into a deal with prosecutors in the process and have pleaded guilty.
Trump suffered a legal defeat in another case in the US capital Washington. There, an appeals court ruled that civil lawsuits against Republicans over the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 can proceed. Trump supporters stormed the parliament building in Washington. Congress met there to formally confirm Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. Trump had previously incited his supporters during a speech. As a result of the riots, five people died.
Some members of the Capitol Police and Democratic members of Congress then sued for damages. Trump had sought the dismissal of the lawsuits and argued with presidential immunity. The court now rejected this application – but did not decide on the admissibility of the lawsuits. “The question of immunity depends on whether President Trump delivered the January 6 speech in an official or private capacity,” the ruling said. “Today we are not finally clarifying this question.” The last word may not have been spoken here yet./nau/DP/he