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Willis seeks reinstatement of Trump's dropped charges in Georgia election interference case

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  October 16, 2024 10:48pm EDT
2020 Election
FOX 5 Atlanta

DA fights to reinstate charges for Trump

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has filed an appeal in a judges decision to toss several charges against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case.

The Brief

    • Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis requests a Georgia appeals court to reinstate six criminal charges against Donald Trump related to the 2020 election, following their dismissal by Judge Scott McAfee.
    • Despite previous charge dismissals, the DA contends that her indictment contained sufficient detail and context for the accused to mount a defense, challenging the notion that the allegations lacked specificity.
    • Allegations of an affair between Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade, who resigned, have added complexity to the case; the appeals court has postponed further proceedings until arguments about Willis's disqualification are heard in December.
    • Trump's defense argues that the trail court was correct in dismissing the charges based on a failure by the state to adequately plead the allegations.
    • Former President Donald Trump has maintained his innocence by pleading not guilty to all the charges brought against him.

ATLANTA - Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has asked a Georgia appeals court to reinstate six criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants in her case involving the 2020 election. The request comes after Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed the charges earlier this year. 

Willis filed a brief to the Georgia Court of Appeals seeking to overturn McAfee's decision, according to court documents. In March, McAfee dismissed six charges against Trump, stating that Willis had failed to allege sufficient detail. Last month, he dismissed two additional charges, saying that Willis and Georgia prosecutors had no authority to bring the charges, which were related to the alleged filing of false documents in federal court. Despite these dismissals, McAfee upheld the racketeering charge brought against all the defendants. 

In her filing, Willis argued that the trial court "erred by quashing six counts of the indictment in this case," asserting that her indictment "included an abundance of context and factual allegations." She further stated that the indictment "more than sufficiently placed Cross-Appellees on notice of the conduct at issue and allowed them to prepare an intelligent defense." Willis is asking the court to reinstate counts 2, 5, 6, 28, 36, and 38 of the indictment. 

Steve Sadow, lead defense counsel for Trump, dismissed Willis' argument, stating that her brief is "simply incorrect on the law." He added, "The trial court's dismissal order properly decided that the State failed to sufficiently plead the allegations in the dismissed counts under Georgia law." 

The case has been further complicated by allegations of an "improper affair" between Willis and Nathan Wade, a prosecutor she hired to help bring the case against Trump. Wade later stepped down, and the Georgia Court of Appeals has paused proceedings in the case until it hears arguments to disqualify Willis on Dec. 5, a month after the 2024 presidential election. 

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The Source

  • Georgia Appeals Court documents, FOX News, and previous FOX 5 Atlanta reporting contributed to this article.