(UnitedVoice.com) – Former President Donald Trump and his allies are facing multiple felonies in Fulton County, Georgia, over the election interference case. The presumptive Republican nominee was facing 13 felony counts. However, a recent ruling by a superior court judge reduced those charges.
Charges Dropped
On March 13, Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six of the 41 felony counts against Trump and his allies. The decision reduced the charges against the former president from 13 to 10.
According to the ruling, the charges relate to the allegations that Trump and his allies applied pressure on state officials to change the results of the 2020 election. One of the three charges against the 45th president was related to a phone call he and former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) on January 2, 2021. In the call, Trump was recorded saying he wanted the secretary to “find 11,780 votes,” which he said was one more than what he lost by.
The former president lost the election in Georgia, making current President Joe Biden the first Democrat to win since FPOTUS Bill Clinton in 1992.
One of the other charges dropped against Trump was related to an alleged phone call he made to then-Georgia House Speaker David Ralston (R). During the conversation, the former president urged the speaker to reverse Biden’s win in the state by calling a special legislative session to order.
McAfee wrote that while the six dismissed counts contained the elements of crimes, they “fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, i.e. the underlying felony solicited.” The judge rejected an attempt by the defense to throw out the overt acts that prosecutors tied to those charges, so they will remain part of the case.
The superior court judge also pointedly stated his ruling did not dismiss the entire indictment. He also granted a six-month window to allow the prosecution time to resubmit the case to a grand jury or appeal the decision.
Reactions to the News
Steve Sadow, one of Trump’s attorneys, issued a statement accusing Fulton County prosecutors of failing to “make specific allegation of any alleged wrongdoing” on the counts that McAfee dropped. He called the judge’s decision “correct” and alleged the prosecution against the former president was “political” and “election interference.”
The District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the decision.
Days after McAfee’s ruling on the indictment, he issued another ruling allowing DA Fani Willis to stay on the case as long as she fires prosecutor Nathan Wade. Willis and Wade dated before she hired him to work on the case.
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