A Georgia judge has tossed several state cases against Donald Trump and his cronies. Could this be the beginning of the end for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis?
Politics :
On Wednesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee quashed 6 counts against Trump and his allies in the Georgia election interference case. Of the 13 counts Trump faced, 3 of them were tossed by the Georgia judge. All of the cases are related to the charge of Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer, which includes the call Trump made to pressure Georgia’s secretary of state to “find 11,780 votes.”
According to Judge McAfee, prosecutors were not specific enough about the violations the defendants were pressuring public officials to commit.
“The Court’s concern is less that the State has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the Defendants –- in fact, it has alleged an abundance. However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal,” McAfee wrote in Wednesday’s order.
“As written, these 6 counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, i.e., the underlying felony solicited,” McAfee added. “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.”
Almost immediately, Trump attorney Steven H. Sadow responded to the judge’s ruling.
“The ruling is a correct application of the law, as the prosecution failed to make specific allegations of any alleged wrongdoing on those counts. The entire prosecution of President Trump is political, constitutes election interference, and should be dismissed.”
So, is this the end of the road for Fulton Country District Attorney Fani Willis and her multiple cases against Donald Trump and his disciples? Don’t bet on it!
The ruling from Judge McAfee is not final. Instead, it is more of a warning to prosecutors that 6 of their charges were incomplete and not specific enough about what violations the defendants were pressuring public officials to commit.
To clarify, it’s important to note a few truths regarding the decision by the Georgia judge:
- Prosecutors now have the option to either appeal the judge’s decision or simply rewrite the quashed charges and bring them again in a way that addresses the court’s concerns.
- The overall racketeering charges against Trump are not affected here and this ruling doesn’t weaken this core element of the case.
- The romantic relationship between Fani Willis and Nathan Wade is not relative to this ruling. The decision regarding its appropriateness or conflict of interest will come at a later date.
On Wednesday, legal analysts raced to various news sources to clarify the ruling for confused Americans.
The judge’s order is “a small blip, as opposed to a major catastrophe for the case against Donald Trump and his allies,” said Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University.
“I think this is a full-steam-ahead signal about the RICO portion of the case,” said Norman Eisen, who served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during the first Trump impeachment.
Stay tuned…
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
A Georgia judge tossed several Trump charges.
Is this the end of the road for Fani and her cases?
No. Though this judge came pretty close, imo, to mucking up her cases.
I don’t think he’s going to rule to disqualify Fani from prosecuting the remaining cases. But I do think he’s a bit of a Coward and is hoping to avoid having to face the full wrath of Maga nuts by dismissing some of Trump’s charges.