On Wednesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed three of the charges against the former president Donald Trump, as of last night the official presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
McAfee’s ruling comes as a setback to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is currently facing possible removal from the case due to her romantic relationship with her colleague, Nathan Wade. The question of whether she will be disqualified will reportedly be decided be week’s end.
Trump, along with over a dozen other defendants, has been charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
The judge made his decision based on the assertion that prosecutors did not provide enough details about the criminal accusations leveled against the former president. He wrote, “The lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal…. They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently.”
This marks the first time that charges in any of Trump’s criminal cases have been dismissed.
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Trump’s attorney, Steve Sadow, said, “The ruling is a correct application of the law, as the prosecution failed to make specific allegations of any alleged wrongdoing on those counts.” He continued, “The entire prosecution of President Trump is political, constitutes election interference, and should be dismissed.”
The judge clarified that prosecutors have six months to submit a reindictment that includes the counts he dismissed to a grand jury. They also could ask for the ruling to be appealed.
Trump is currently set to go to trial on March 25 in New York for allegedly falsifying business records, but his attorneys are currently seeking to postpone the hearing date.