ATLANTA – The judge presiding over the trial election interference case Some of the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump in Georgia have been dismissed.
In Wednesday’s ruling, Judge Scott McAfee He found that the indictment against Trump contained six articles and some of it co-defendantsIt lacked details, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorney Rudy Giuliani. The judge left open the possibility that prosecutors could raise the charges again.
“As written, these six articles contain all the essential elements of the crimes, but do not allege sufficient detail about the nature of their commission, namely the required predicate offense. They do not provide defendants with sufficient information to intelligently prepare their defenses,” McAfee wrote.
The counts thrown out by the judge included allegations that Trump and his co-defendants solicited public officials to violate their oaths of office. The judge did not specify whether the language used in the indictment was too “general” and which part of the constitution which oath — state or federal — the officers were charged with violating.
“The Court’s concern is that the State has failed to allege sufficient conduct by the Defendants — in fact, it has alleged too much. However, the lack of detail on a key legal element is fatal,” the judge wrote.
One of the dismissals involved Trump’s call to Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, urging him to “find” enough votes to be declared the winner in a state he lost to Joe Biden. Another called Trump’s letter to Raffensperger to “fix” the 2020 election results.
Trump was indicted on three of the six articles of impeachment. He still faces 10 other charges in the case.
In a footnote, the judge said the DA’s office “may seek a re-indictment adding these six counts” with more information. He also allowed the “overt acts” in which the counts were closed to remain as part of a larger racketeering charge.
Trump’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, praised the judge’s decision in his statement. “The decision is the correct application of the law because the prosecution failed to make specific allegations of any alleged violations of law related to these articles. The entire prosecution of President Trump is political, election interference and should be dismissed.”
Giuliani’s spokesman, Ted Goodman, praised the decision, saying, “The sooner this show trial is overturned, the sooner we can restore the rule of law in this country.”
The DA’s office and Raffensperger’s office declined to comment.
Trump and defendants affected by the ruling, including Giuliani, Meadows and attorney John Eastman, have pleaded guilty.
The decision comes ahead of another McAfee sentencing expected this week – Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis’ disqualified from work. The judge said that he plans to make this decision in the near future.