'Isn't going to get him off the hook': Internet split as judge drops 6 charges in Trump's Georgia election interference case

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee quashed six charges in the 41-count indictment against former president Donald Trump and his 18 other co-defendants in the election subversion case in Georgia, reported Daily Mail.

"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 the order issued on Wednesday, March 12, 2024.

"This does not mean the entire indictment is dismissed," he added.

Although the order dismisses some charges, most remain intact, allowing prosecutors to pursue a new indictment for the dismissed ones.

The judge's decision comes when he is under a self-imposed deadline to decide on the disqualification of Fulton County DA Fani Willis from the case in light of her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

What charges were dismissed by the judge?

The former president faced 13 counts over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia, and the judge dismissed three of them.

The other dismissed counts include charges against former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorney Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Ray Stallings Smith, and Robert Cheeley.

One of six charges, Count 28, is in relation to Trump's phone call to Brad Raffensperger, the Secretary of State of Georgia, on January 2, 2021, where the former POTUS pressured him to "find" 11,780 votes to overturn the 2020 election result.

Another charge, Count 38, involves a letter the former president sent to Raffensperger in September 2021, asking him to decertify the presidential election results in Georgia or to pursue "legal remedies" to "announce the true winner."

The other dismissed counts listed as Numbers 2, 6, and 23 are related to defendants pressuring Georgia lawmakers to select a pro-Trump elector after Joe Biden's victory in the state.

And Count 5 pertains to a call the ex-president made to then Georgia House Speaker David Ralston urging him to convene a special legislative session to appoint new electors.

Following Judge McAfee's decision, Trump now faces 88 criminal charges nationwide in four indictments.

"As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, ie, the underlying felony solicited. 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," the judge wrote.

Looming verdict on Fani Willis

The dismissal of six charges against Donald Trump and his co-defendants did not address the awaited ruling on Willis's future in the election interference case. MacAfee pledged to announce a ruling on the matter of disqualifying the DA by the end of this week.

Speaking to CNN on Wednesday, McAfee simply stated, "I plan to stick to my timeline."

Trump has frequently demanded to remove Willis from the case after her bombshell revelation in early February that she engaged in a "personal relationship" with special prosecutor Wade, whom she hired to investigate the election subversion case.

Internet split as judge drops 6 charges in Georgia election interference case

Netizens were divided into two groups, responding to the late development of the indictments against Trump in Georgia. While one group opined the whole case should be dismissed, another slammed the judge.

One social media user wrote, "Should dismiss the whole case!"

Another user wrote, "This is not the win you think it is. They'll resubmit the indictments, and next time, they'll be bulletproof. Trump is going to prison for attempting to rig the 2020 election after knowing for a fact that he lost."

"Sanity prevails! The Dems have been on a witch hunt since day 1 of Trump’s presidency," one added. Another response read, "3...2...1... Here come the magas to claim that because part of a case is dismissed it means that the whole thing MUST be dismissed too."

One individual said, "Should have been the whole ridiculous case." On the other hand, another person remarked, "The court should be in jail with Donald Trump."

"Dumping six counts isn't going to get him off the hook," remarked an individual.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.