The judge in charge of the Georgia 2020 election interference case has dropped some of the charges against former President Donald Trump and others. However, the rest of the extensive racketeering indictment remains.
Judge Scott McAfee from Fulton County Superior Court dismissed six counts in the indictment, including three against Trump. Other counts, including 10 against Trump, are still in place. The judge also said that prosecutors could try to bring back the charges he dismissed by seeking a new indictment.
This ruling is a setback for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is already facing attempts to remove her from the prosecution due to a romantic relationship with a colleague. It's the first time charges in any of Trump’s four criminal cases have been dismissed. The judge stated that prosecutors did not provide enough detail about the alleged crime.
The extensive indictment accuses Trump and over a dozen other defendants of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO. The case uses a statute typically associated with mobsters to allege that the former president, lawyers, and aides engaged in a “criminal enterprise” to retain power after losing the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Defense attorneys welcomed the ruling, which followed challenges to the indictment from Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and attorneys John Eastman, Ray Smith, and Robert Cheeley. All have pleaded not guilty.
“The ruling is a correct application of the law, as the prosecution failed to make specific allegations of any alleged wrongdoing on those counts,” said Trump attorney Steve Sadow. “The entire prosecution of President Trump is political, constitutes election interference, and should be dismissed.”
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 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 leaves Meadows facing only a RICO charge. Jim Durham, a lawyer for Meadows, declined to comment. The order quashed three of 13 counts against Giuliani.
Giuliani’s lawyer Allyn Stockton said that there wasn't enough detail for the defendants to know what they were being accused of. Stockton added that the ruling effectively gets rid of about 25% of the charges against his client.
McAfee stated that prosecutors could ask for a new indictment to add to the six dismissed counts. Even if the time limit for legal action has passed, the judge gave the state six months to present the case to a grand jury. Prosecutors could also request permission to challenge the ruling. The case has not been scheduled for trial yet.
