By Kate Brumback, Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — The judge overseeing the Georgia 2020 election interference case on Wednesday dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump and others, but the rest of the sweeping racketeering indictment remains intact. the Georgia 2020 election interference case on Wednesday dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump and others, but the rest of the sweeping racketeering indictment remains intact.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee quashed six counts in the indictment, including three against Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee. But the judge left in place other counts — including 10 facing Trump — and said prosecutors could seek a new indictment to try to reinstate the ones he dismissed.
The ruling is a blow for Fulton County District Attorney who already is facing an effort to have her removed from the prosecution over her romantic relationship with a colleague. It’s the first time charges in any of Trump’s four criminal cases have been dismissed, with the judge saying prosecutors failed to provide enough detail about the alleged crime. Fani WillisFulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testifies during a hearing on the Georgia election interference case, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer/Pool Photo via AP) Trump and more than a dozen other defendants are charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO. The case uses a statute normally associated with mobsters to accuse the former president, lawyers and other aides of a “criminal enterprise” to keep him in power after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden. Defense attorneys applauded the ruling, which came after challenges to the indictment from Trump, former New York mayor and current Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorneys John Eastman, Ray Smith and Robert Cheeley. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Jeff DiSantis, a spokesperson for Willis, declined to comment other than to say prosecutors were reviewing the ruling. The six challenged counts charge the defendants with soliciting public officers to violate their oaths. One count stems from a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, on Jan. 2, 2021, in which Trump urged Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes.” Another of the dismissed counts accuses Trump of soliciting then-Georgia House Speaker David Ralston to violate his oath of office by calling a special session of the legislature to unlawfully appoint presidential electors.
McAfee said the counts did not allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of the violations.
“The lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal,” McAfee wrote. “They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently.”
McAfee’s order means Meadows only has to face a RICO charge now. Jim Durham, who is Meadows' lawyer, declined to comment. The order got rid of three out of 13 charges against Giuliani.
Giuliani’s attorney Allyn Stockton said that there wasn't enough detail for the defendants to know what to defend against. Stockton added that the ruling removed almost 25% of the charges against his client. McAfee wrote that prosecutors could ask to bring back the six dismissed counts with a new indictment. Even if the statute of limitations has expired, the judge gave the state six months to submit the case to a grand jury again. Prosecutors could also request permission to appeal the ruling. The case has not been scheduled for trial yet. The ruling comes as McAfee is thinking about trying to have Willis removed from the case due to a conflict of interest because of her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. McAfee is expected to decide by the end of this week on the disqualification bid, which would cast doubt on the biggest of the four criminal cases against Trump.
Willis, who has said their relationship ended months ago, has said there is no conflict of interest and no reason to remove her from the case.
The nearly 100-page Georgia indictment outlines numerous alleged acts by Trump or his allies to overturn his defeat.
reverse his loss
, including harassing an election worker who faced false claims of fraud, and trying to convince Georgia lawmakers to disregard the will of voters and appoint a new slate of Electoral College electors favorable to Trump.
Out of the 19 people originally charged, four have pleaded guilty after making deals with prosecutors. These include prominent Trump allies and attorneys
Sidney Powell
Kenneth Chesebro.
The Georgia case covers some of the same ground as the federal case in Washington brought by special counsel Jack Smith that accuses Trump of conspiring
to overturn his election loss in a desperate attempt to remain in power. Trump is charged separately by Smith with hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. Trump is scheduled to go to trial later this monthin the New York case
accusing him of falsifying his company’s internal records to conceal the true nature of payments to a former lawyer who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 presidential campaign. Richer reported from Boston. and The judge overseeing the Georgia 2020 election interference case has dismissed some of the charges against Trump, but others remain.
The Georgia case covers some of the same ground as the federal case in Washington brought by special counsel Jack Smith that charges Trump with conspiring to overturn his election loss in a desperate bid to stay in power. Trump is charged separately by Smith with hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and thwarting government efforts to retrieve them.
Trump is scheduled to go to trial later this month in the New York case accusing him of falsifying his company’s internal records to hide the true nature of payments to a former lawyer who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Richer reported from Boston.
