The judge is responsible for supervising Georgia 2020 election interference case Some charges against former President Donald Trump and others were dismissed Wednesday, but the remainder of a sweeping racketeering indictment remains intact.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six counts in the indictment, including three against Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential candidate. But the judge left in place other counts, including 10 that Trump faced, and said prosecutors could seek new indictments to try to reinstate the ones he dismissed.
The ruling is a blow to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was already facing efforts to have her removed from prosecution over her romantic relationship with a co-worker. It was the first time charges in four criminal cases against Trump were dismissed, with the judge saying prosecutors failed to provide enough details about the alleged crimes.
The sprawling indictment accuses Trump and more than a dozen other defendants of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The case uses statutes typically associated with gangs to accuse the former president, lawyers and other aides of engaging in “criminal activity” to stay in power after his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Defense attorneys applauded the ruling, which came after Trump, former New York mayor and current Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorney John East Mann, Ray Smith and Robert Chilley challenged the indictment. They all pleaded not guilty.
“This ruling is the correct application of the law because prosecutors failed to allege specific allegation of wrongdoing in any of these charges,” said Trump attorney Steve Sadow. “The entire prosecution of President Trump They are all political, constitute electoral interference and should be dismissed.”
Willis spokesman Jeff DeSantis declined to comment other than to say prosecutors were reviewing the ruling.
The six challenged counts accuse the defendants of inciting public officials to violate their oaths. One of the counts stems from a Jan. 2, 2021, call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, in which Trump urged Raffensperger to Box “11,780 votes found”.
Another charge that was dismissed accused Trump of inciting then-Georgia House Speaker David Ralston to violate his oath of office by calling a special session of the Legislature to illegally appoint presidential electors.
McAfee said the count did not provide enough details about the nature of the breach.
“In the view of the signatories, the lack of detail regarding basic legal elements is fatal,” McAfee wrote. “They did not provide the defendant with sufficient information to intelligently prepare a defence.”
McAfee’s order leaves Meadows facing only RICO charges. Meadows’ attorney, Jim Durham, declined to comment. The order dropped three of the 13 charges against Giuliani.
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