Judge drops 2 counts against Trump in Georgia election probe
A Georgia judge dismissed two counts Thursday against former President Donald Trump in the Georgia 2020 election interference case.
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee said the two counts fall under federal jurisdiction. Both counts deal with conspiracy and filing false documents. Five counts of the original indictment against Trump have now been dismissed. Three were dropped earlier this year by Judge McAfee, who ruled that the charges lacked detail. Trump now faces eight remaining counts in the case, out of the original 13.
Trump's lawyers said in a statement, "President Trump and his legal team in Georgia have prevailed once again."
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought the charges against Trump, declined to comment.
The proceedings in the Trump case have been temporarily halted since June, while the Georgia Court of Appeals reviews McAfee's ruling allowing Willis to continue prosecuting the case.
In April, Willis acknowledged that she had a romantic relationship with lawyer Nathan Wade, whom she appointed to lead the prosecution against Trump. Her admission came after one of Trump's co-defendants sought to have Willis and her entire office disqualified from prosecuting the case because of the relationship. McAfee allowed Willis to remain on the case if Wade resigned, which he did. Trump and several of his co-defendants appealed the decision.
The state appeals court is set to hear arguments in the disqualification bid in December, and it must rule by Mar. 14, 2025, which means that Trump will not face trial in this case before the November election.
Three lawyers and a bail bondsman involved in the post-election effort have pleaded guilty, and the four have agreed to cooperate in the cases against the other 15.
In August 2023, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump and 18 associates for election fraud, racketeering and other charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The indictment said the defendants in the case "refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump."