ATLANTA — A decision from a Georgia appeals court has confirmed the rejection of certain charges against President-elect Donald Trump and several co-defendants in the ongoing case concerning election interference related to the 2020 presidential vote. As it stands, the future of the case is still unclear.
In March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six counts from the indictment, three of which were aimed at Trump, while allowing other charges to remain. Following this decision, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sought to challenge the ruling in the Georgia Court of Appeals, which has now affirmed McAfee’s earlier determinations.
The indictment alleges that Trump and a number of associates implemented a broad conspiracy to unlawfully overturn Trump’s narrow defeat in Georgia during the 2020 election. However, the trajectory of the case is currently uncertain. Recently, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled to remove Willis from the case, and even if that decision were reversed, it is improbable that any criminal proceedings against Trump would move forward after he is inaugurated for a second term as president.
Willis has appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, requesting that the ruling which disqualified her and her office be overturned. Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team has contended that the state Supreme Court should reject Willis’ appeal.
A representative for Willis chose not to comment on Friday regarding the ruling from the Court of Appeals. The six charges that were dropped involved allegations against the defendants for attempting to persuade public officials to neglect their sworn duties. One notably included a phone call made by Trump to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, during which Trump urged him to “find 11,780 votes.”
Additionally, another dismissed charge involved Trump allegedly encouraging then-Georgia House Speaker David Ralston to breach his oath by convening a special legislative session to improperly appoint presidential electors. Judge McAfee noted that the charges lacked sufficient specifics regarding the alleged transgressions. The Court of Appeals concurred, stating that the indictment did not provide adequate detail to make the defendants aware of what they were required to prepare for in their defenses.
Last month, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that Willis, alongside her office, could not continue pursuing the case due to an “appearance of impropriety,” stemming from her personal involvement with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she appointed to lead the case. In an effort to reverse this ruling, Willis argued in a recent filing that the Court of Appeals incorrectly disqualified her without any concrete evidence of a conflict of interest or misconduct.
Trump’s lawyers contended that the lower appeals court’s ruling was justified, asserting that Willis’ disqualification was necessary to eliminate any perceived improprieties. Should the state Supreme Court choose not to hear the appeal or uphold the Court of Appeals’ ruling, it will fall to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to appoint a new prosecutor to continue the proceedings. This new prosecutor could either follow the path set out by Willis, choose to pursue only select charges, or potentially dismiss the case entirely.
