GEORGIA  –  A court in Georgia has dismissed two of the 10 criminal charges against Donald Trump and one other charge against his allies for alleged attempts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled that the southern state did not have the authority to bring the specific charges related to the alleged filing of false documents in federal court.

Judge McAfee allowed the rest of the case to move forward, including eight charges against Trump, out of the original 13. Three other charges against Trump were dropped earlier this year after the same judge ruled that the charges lacked detail. Steven Sadow, a lawyer for Trump, praised the ruling, saying: “President Trump and his legal team in Georgia have prevailed once again.”

Judge McAfee said that the two dropped charges fell under federal jurisdiction, rather than under Georgia state law. The dropped charges against Trump include conspiracy to commit false documents and conspiracy to commit forgery, according to court documents. Two of his co-defendants had their charges of forgery dropped as well.

According to the indictment filed in August 2023 by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Trump conspired with 18 other defendants to interfere in the election result. The group “refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump”.

Part of the alleged plot included Trump’s phone call to Georgia’s top election official, in which he pleaded with him to “to find 11,780 votes” – the margin in which he lost to Biden. Trump – and 14 co-defendants – have pleaded not guilty to racketeering and other state charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the former president’s loss in Georgia. Four others have pleaded guilty.

The case has largely been put on hold since June, after Willis was found to have had a romantic relationship with one of the lead prosecutors in the case. A Georgia appeals court is currently considering whether Willis must step aside from the case due to the allegations of misconduct presented by defense lawyers. (BBC)…[+]