A Fulton County judge has struck out six counts in a Georgia election interference case against former President Trump and 18 co-defendants.
Judge Scott McAfee said in Wednesday’s order that the state did not allege sufficient detail on six counts of “inciting violation of oath by a public official.”
“The court’s concern is not that the state fails to allege sufficient conduct by the defendants, but that it does in fact allege ample conduct. “The lack of detail regarding the elements is fatal in the undersigned opinion,” McAfee wrote. .
“As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of a crime, but they do not allege sufficient detail about the nature of the commission, i.e., solicitation of the underlying felony.” The judge continued.
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Judge Scott McAfee at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on February 15th. Judge McAfee has dismissed six charges in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants. (Alyssa Pointer, Getty Images)
“The defendant may have violated the Constitution, and thus the statute, in dozens, if not hundreds, of different ways, so we have not provided the defendant with enough information to intelligently prepare a defense.” do not have.”
Georgia law prohibits public officials from knowingly violating the terms of their oath established by law. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis alleged that President Trump and six co-defendants illegally attempted to persuade numerous state officials to violate their oaths in order to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
The indictment alleges that Trump and his then-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, asked Georgia state legislators to illegally appoint replacement presidential electors, and that Trump and then-chief of staff Mark Meadows allegedly asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to illegally appoint a replacement presidential elector. He is referring to allegations that he tried to request that the election be decertified.
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Former President Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC 2024 on February 24, 2024 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Several defendants challenged the cause of action, alleging that Willis failed to detail the precise terms of the oath that were allegedly violated.
McAfee said the indictment should have alleged an underlying felony of solicitation by the defendants.
“In other words, the charge of naked solicitation cannot survive unless accompanied by additional elements establishing the felony of solicitation,” the judge wrote.
Willis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The court made the correct legal decision to grant a special denier and strike out key counts in the indictment brought by Prosecutor Fani Willis,” said President Trump’s attorney Steve Sadow. “Counts 5, 28, and 38 of the charges dismissed against President Trump falsely allege that President Trump solicited GA public officials to violate their oaths of office.”
“This sentence is a correct application of the law because the prosecution did not specifically allege any wrongdoing on these charges,” Sadow added. “All charges against President Trump are political, amount to election interference, and should be dismissed.”
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on March 1, 2024. (Alex Slitspool/Getty Images)
In addition to overseeing election fraud against Mr. Trump, Mr. McAfee hired special counsel Nathan Wade when Willis was secretly in a relationship with a small group of co-workers who allegedly benefited financially from his employment. He is also presiding over the accusations brought by the defendants.
The bombshell led to a major evidentiary hearing last month, in which Willis and Wade denied allegations that they were in a relationship at the time of their hiring, stating that any vacation they took together would be reimbursed in cash by Wade He claimed that he had never profited from his position. .
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Mr. McAfee is considering the evidence presented at the hearing and is expected to decide within the next two weeks whether Mr. Willis and his team should be disbarred from the case.
“It is clear that disqualification may occur if evidence of an actual dispute or the appearance of a dispute is presented,” McAfee said at the start of proceedings this month.
Fox News Digital’s Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.
