Donald Trump, the former president, faced difficulties in court today when judges denied his petitions to have criminal accusations against him withdrawn in two important cases. Among these are accusations of improper handling of federally sensitive documents and meddling in Georgian elections. The fact that the courts decided against Trump even after he tried to have these cases dismissed suggests that the legal problems are far from being settled.
In the Georgia case initiated by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis or the federal case overseen by special counsel Jack Smith, Trump did not take any action. The judges have not yet made a decision on some of these cases, hence trials are still a possibility. In the meanwhile, another case over hush money payments made during the 2016 campaign is scheduled to begin in New York later this month.
Though he has been able to extend the time till trials begin, Trump has mostly focused on delaying the legal process, hence it is still unknown if these cases will be tried before the next election. The Washington, DC case, which is now awaiting a Supreme Court decision on whether Trump may be prosecuted as a former president, has made the use of delaying strategies more clear.
Trump has said he believes in presidential immunity in the federal and Georgian lawsuits, asserting his right to access private information even after his tenure ends. It appears, nevertheless, from the judges' decisions that these arguments have not convinced the court.
The decisions also serve as a reminder of the continuous legal challenges Trump faces, even if overall his lawyers lost on Thursday. Trump and the other defendants continue to hold their ground in spite of the difficulties, proving that the legal battle is far from over.