Trump Georgia election interference case: Some charges dismissed
ATLANTA - The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case on Wednesday dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump, but many other counts in the indictment remain.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in an order that six of the counts in the indictment must be quashed, including three against Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee. But the order leaves intact other charges, and the judge wrote that prosecutors could seek a new indictment on the charges he dismissed.
Georgia election probe timeline: From November 2020 to 2023
The ruling is a blow for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose case has already been on shaky ground with an effort to have her removed from the prosecution over her romantic relationship with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade. 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 WIllis and Nathan Wade (FOX 5)
The sprawling indictment charges Trump and more than a dozen other defendants 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.
A Willis spokesperson adid not immediately respond to a request for comment.
What are the charges that were dismissed
The six charges in question have to do with soliciting elected officials to violate their oaths of office. That includes two charges related to the phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, on Jan. 2, 2021.
"All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have," Trump said.
The six counts are as follows:
• Count Two alleges that multiple Defendants solicited elected members of the Georgia Senate to violate their oaths of office on December 3, 2020, by requesting or importuning them to unlawfully appoint presidential electors;
• Count Five alleges that Defendant Trump solicited the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives to violate his oath of office on December 7, 2020, by requesting or importuning him to call a special session to unlawfully appoint presidential electors;
• Count Six alleges that Defendants Ray Smith and Rudy Giuliani solicited members of the Georgia House of Representatives to violate their oaths of office on December 10, 2020, by requesting or importuning them to unlawfully appoint presidential electors;
• Count 23 alleges that multiple Defendants solicited elected members of the Georgia Senate to violate their oaths of office on December 30, 2020, by requesting or importuning them to unlawfully appoint presidential electors;
• Count 28 alleges that Defendants Trump and Mark Meadows solicited the Georgia Secretary of State to violate his oath of office on January 2, 2021, by requesting or importuning him to unlawfully influence the certified election returns; and
• Count 38 alleges that Defendant Trump solicited the Georgia Secretary of State to violate his oath of office on September 17, 2021, by requesting or importuning him to unlawfully decertify the election.
"As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, i.e., the underlying felony solicited. Kimbrough, 300 Ga. at 884. They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently, as the Defendants could have violated the Constitutions and thus the statute in dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct ways," McAfee wrote.
"A naked charge of solicitation cannot survive unless accompanied by additional elements establishing the solicited felony," McAfee also wrote, arguing that prosecutors did not explain the exact terms of the oaths that some of Trump's co-defendants had violated.
Other defendants affected
The other defendants listed on the order from Judge Scott McAfee are former New York City mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, attorney John Eastman, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, attorney Ray Smith and attorney Robert Cheeley.
McAfee's order leaves Meadows facing only a RICO charge. Jim Durham, a lawyer for Meadows, declined to comment.
The case accuses Trump and 18 others of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden.
The nearly 100-page indictment details dozens of acts by Trump or his allies to undo his defeat, including harassing an election worker who faced false claims of fraud and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors favorable to Trump.
Reaction to McAfee's decision
Attorney Steve Sadow, who represents Trump in the case, praised McAfee's decision and called for the other charges to also be dropped in a statement to FOX 5.
"The Court made the correct legal decision to grant the special demurrers and quash important counts of the indictment brought by DA Fani Willis. The counts dismissed against President Trump are 5, 28 and 38, which falsely claimed that he solicited GA public officials to violate their oath of office," Sadow wrote. "The ruling is a correct application of the law, as the prosecution failed to make specific allegations of any alleged wrongdoing on those counts."
Sadow went on to call Fulton County's prosecution of Trump "political" and "election interference," saying it "should be dismissed."
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's office also sent a statement:
"The Court made the correct legal decision on these six counts, and we now look forward to the Court addressing what appears to be major acts of prosecutorial misconduct by both Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade.
The sooner this whole show trial is dismissed, the sooner we can restore the rule of law in this country. It's clearly political, and part of a larger effort to interfere with the 2024 presidential election. Thankfully, the American people are waking up to these facts." - Ted Goodman, Political Advisor to Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Decision expected soon on Willis disqualification
McAfee is also expected to deliver a decision this week on the effort to have Willis removed from the case. The judge heard three days of testimony related to the allegations, including testimony from Willis and Wade.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAffee listens to motions being presented on October 5, 2023 in Atlanta. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser-Pool/Getty Images)
Timeline: Fulton County DA Fani Willis, Nathan Wade controversy
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FOX 5 Atlanta contributed to this report.