A Fulton County judge, on Wednesday, dismissed multiple counts from the indictment of election interference against former President Donald Trump and some of his co-defendants.
Judge Scott McAfee has dismissed six counts that were related to the charge of Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer. These counts were specifically connected to Trump’s phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, which played a role in initiating the investigation.
The judge’s order has resulted in the dismissal of three out of the 13 counts that Trump was facing. Consequently, Trump is now confronted with 10 remaining counts in the case.
The ruling provides a partial victory for Trump and his co-defendants, who argued that the counts against them were legally deficient and should be dismissed.
Judge McAfee concurred with the argument, explaining that the plaintiffs’ claims lacked sufficient specificity regarding the particular aspect of the oath that the defendants were purportedly encouraging public officials to violate. He emphasized that the absence of crucial information pertaining to a legal element was detrimental to their case.
The order states that the Defendants were not provided with sufficient information to prepare their defenses intelligently. It acknowledges that the Defendants may have potentially violated the Constitutions and the statute in numerous distinct ways.
However, the most serious charge of the indictment, the racketeering charge, was upheld by the ruling, which all 15 of the remaining defendants still face.
The Fulton County district attorney’s office has been given a six-month deadline by the judge to refile the charges that were previously dismissed.
ABC News reached out to the DA’s office for comment, but they declined to provide any statement.
Trump, along with his former attorney Rudy Giuliani, former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, election lawyer John Eastman, and several others, brought forward motions known as demurrers.
In a recent development, a judge has dismissed three out of the 13 charges against Giuliani. As per the order, Giuliani is no longer accused of solicitation and making false statements and writings. This ruling brings some relief to Giuliani’s legal situation.
In December 2020, Giuliani participated in three public hearings before Georgia state lawmakers. He made appearances in the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate, where he made unfounded allegations of fraud in the 2020 election. Giuliani encouraged lawmakers to assign a false slate of electors. However, these counts have now been dropped.
Giuliani is now facing a total of 10 counts in the indictment filed by Fulton County.
The judge has issued an order that dismisses one of the two charges against Meadows. As a result, Meadows now only faces one count, which is the racketeering or RICO count, the same charge that all 19 defendants were charged with.
One of the counts against Eastman is quashed, as well as three counts against Georgia lawyer Ray Smith III, and one count against Georgia lawyer Robert Cheeley.
The ruling received praise from several defense attorneys involved in the case.
“The special demurrers were granted by the Court, which was the right legal decision,” stated Steve Sadow, Trump’s attorney, in response to the indictment brought by DA Fani Willis. Sadow emphasized that the ruling accurately applied the law, as the prosecution failed to provide specific allegations of wrongdoing for those counts.”
In a statement to ABC News, Don Samuel, the lawyer representing Smith who filed the initial demurrer, expressed his delight with the court’s ruling.
Samuel expressed his belief that this is the initial stage in clearing Ray’s name from all accusations. He added that there are still a few more charges to address.
Last August, Trump and 18 others entered pleas of not guilty to the charges outlined in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The indictment accused them of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Among the defendants, Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, and Scott Hall opted to take plea deals. In exchange for their cooperation, they agreed to offer testimony against the remaining defendants.
The district attorney’s investigation has been criticized by the former president as politically motivated.
