Several counts in the extensive racketeering indictment against former President Donald Trump and others were dropped by the judge presiding over the Georgia 2020 election meddling case on Wednesday.
Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court ordered the quashing of six counts in the indictment, including three against Trump, the presumed Republican presidential contender for 2024.
However, the judge did not drop any of the allegations and stated that prosecutors might file a fresh indictment based on the ones he dropped.
The decision is a setback for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose case was already on shaky ground due to an attempt to have her removed from the prosecution for her intimate involvement with a colleague.
It’s the first time charges in any of Trump’s four criminal cases have been dropped, with the judge citing prosecutors’ failure to offer sufficient details about the alleged conduct.
The broad indictment accuses Trump and more than a dozen other defendants of breaking Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
The case accuses the former president, his lawyers, and other advisers of a “criminal enterprise” to maintain him in power after losing the 2020 election to Democrat
The six charges in question have to do with soliciting elected officials to violate their oaths of office. That includes two charges related to the phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, on Jan. 2, 2021.
The ruling comes as McAfee is considering a bid to have Willis disqualified from the case over what defense attorneys have alleged is a conflict of interest due to her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
