The Georgia judge presiding over Donald Trump’s case for allegedly trying to steal the 2020 election dismissed six charges Wednesday from the indictment for not being specific enough against the former president and a handful of his co-defendants.
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed charges alleging the co-defendants asked public officials to violate their oaths of office by switching presidential electors from those for President Joe Biden, who won the state, to Trump.
McAfee ruled that the indictment failed to provide enough detail about the underlying felonies in the requests that co-defendants were making in their meetings with lawmakers or a call to a state official.
“They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently, as the Defendants could have violated the Constitutions and thus the statute in dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct ways,” McAfee ruled.
But McAfee said the problem could be “easily remedied.” He left in place acts described in the indictment, such as Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he asked Raffensperger to “find” the votes needed to hand him victory in the state. McAfee said the acts could still be alleged as part of the conspiracy. He left in place 35 charges in the indictment.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could potentially seek an updated indictment that is more detailed. Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, said the problem could be remedied in about 12 hours.
