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Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over former President Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case, handed Trump a win on Wednesday, killing three charges against the former president.
In a new ruling, McAfee quashed six charges in the sweeping RICO case against Trump and his allies. Trump was indicted on three of those charges for his alleged efforts to solicit former Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger into violating their oaths of office.
McAfee ruled that the allegations made against the defendants were not detailed enough, finding that "the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned's opinion, fatal."
McAfee also killed similar charges against former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Ray Stallings Smith III and Robert Cheeley.
Prosecutors had alleged that Trump and his co-defendants violated state law by pressuring Georgia's elected officials to unlawfully appoint electors for Trump. At the center of one of these charges is the infamous call Trump and Meadows made to Raffensperger in January 2021, during which the former president asked Raffensperger to "find" the votes to help him win the state.
In his ruling, McAfee said while the dismissed charges contained "all the essential elements of the crimes," the insufficient detail about the allegations "do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently."
The ruling is a blow to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is currently awaiting McAfee to decide whether her office will be disqualified from the case entirely. Several of the defendants have brought a motion against Willis, arguing that she has shown a conflict of interest by hiring her boyfriend, Nathan Wade, as a special prosecutor. Willis and Wade maintain their relationship did not begin until after his appointment.
Wednesday's order will, however, leave intact many of the other charges in the indictment, including conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to defraud the state, and making false statements and writings. McAfee also said that prosecutors could seek a new indictment on the charges he dismissed.
"This does not mean the entire indictment is dismissed," the judge wrote in a footnote. "The State may also seek a reindictment supplementing these six counts."
McAfee added, "Even if the statute of limitations has expired, the State receives a six-month extension from the date of this Order to resubmit the case to a grand jury."
Update 03/13/24, 11:01 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 03/13/24, 11:35 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more