Judge Drops SIX Charges in Georgia Election Interference Case

This article originally appeared on The Epoch Times and was republished with permission.

Guest post by Catherine Yang

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on March 13 ruled on several demurrers, striking six counts from the 41-count indictment against former President Donald Trump and 14 codefendants.

The demurrers were brought by President Trump, former White House chief-of-staff Mark Meadows, and attorneys John Eastman, Ray Smith III, Robert Cheeley, and Rudy Giuliani.

Three of the quashed charges apply to President Trump, throwing out counts related to a phone call he made to the Georgia Secretary of State.

The indictment originally charged 19 defendants, four of whom have since taken plea bargains. All were charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as 40 additional counts.

The ruling comes ahead of an expected decision this week on a motion to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the case.

Quashed Charges

The judge struck charges 2, 5, 6, 23, 28, and 38 from the indictment. These counts are related to soliciting officials to violate oaths of office, including via a phone call President Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The counts alleged the defendants solicited members of the Georgia Senate, Georgia House, Georgia House Speaker, and Mr. Raffensperger to violate oaths of office in trying to certify alternate electors or “influence the certified election returns.”

This leaves only the RICO charge for Mr. Meadows, 10 counts for President Trump, 11 counts for Mr. Giuliani, 10 counts for Mr. Smith, nine counts for Mr. Cheeley, and eight counts for Mr. Eastman.

The judge added that “these pleading deficiencies do not apply to the corresponding acts” listed in the RICO charge as part of an alleged conspiracy, but to stand as separate counts they needed to meet a higher statutory standard.

“A defendant can be found guilty of conspiracy even after acquittal of any overt acts alleged,” he wrote.

Read the full story at The Epoch Times.