In a significant legal setback for prosecutors, a Georgia judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case just threw out three charges against former President Donald Trump.
The bulk of the charges against Trump in the sweeping racketeering indictment against him and several co-defendants were left intact by the ruling.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled on Wednesday that six of the counts in the massive indictment brought by the controversial District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, must be quashed due to a lack of sufficient legal detail provided to the defendants.
Among the dismissed charges were three counts against Trump related to soliciting public officials to violate their oaths — including those related to an infamous 2020 Georgia phone call.
However, McAfee stated that Willis’ team could seek a new indictment re-filing of the dismissed charges if they properly remedy the lack of evidence he cited as the grounds for quashing them.
One of the tossed counts stemmed from Trump’s infamous phone call pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” he believed were missing from the election. Another involved allegations Trump unlawfully solicited the state’s House Speaker to convene a special legislative session to appoint pro-Trump electors.
“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.”
While a clear victory for Trump’s legal team, the ruling also leaves the majority of the prosecution’s sprawling racketeering case against the former president intact — for now.
The Democratic prosecutors accuse Trump and allies like Rudy Giuliani of operating a “criminal enterprise” to subvert the 2020 results in Georgia through a pattern of fraudulent acts.
Trump has dismissed the charges as political prosecution and as part of a “witch hunt” meant to interfere with the 2024 election.
The judges decision injects further turmoil into a case already facing a potential shakeup.
McAfee is separately weighing a bid by Trump’s team to completely disqualify Willis over an undisclosed past sexual relationship between her and a hired prosecutor on the case, Nathan Wade. A ruling removing Willis could throw the future of the high-stakes prosecution into question.
For now, legal experts say the dismissal of some charges will force Willis to re-present that evidence to a new grand jury, delaying those elements of the case. But with Trump still facing an array of racketeering counts carrying potential prison time, the overall prosecution currently appears ready to move ahead barring further rulings.
The Georgia case is just one of four active criminal cases currently targeting Trump’s conduct related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. He also faces federal charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S. as well as counts in New York over alleged hush money payments.
The Horn editorial team