Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump attends a campaign event at the Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee, Wisconsin on September 7, 2024.
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A judge on Thursday dismissed two criminal counts brought by Donald Trump in a Georgia election interference case but left in place the top racketeering charge and other counts against the former president and other defendants.
fulton county Senior Judge Scott McAfee also dismissed a third count against a Trump ally.
Republican presidential candidate Trump has not been charged with any other crimes.
The ruling leaves in place the overall indictment against Trump and others, including the most serious charges of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
The indictment alleges that Trump and his allies illegally sought to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden in Georgia as part of his broader effort to overturn Biden’s victory in the national White House election.
“President Trump and his legal team in Georgia win again,” Trump attorney Steve Sado said in a statement about the ruling.
“The trial court has decided that counts 15 and 27 of the indictment must be dismissed/dismissed,” Sadow said.
The two charges McPhee dismissed against Trump and the other defendants were conspiracy to file a false document and filing a false document.
The judge’s third count – Count 14 in the indictment – is the criminal act of attempting to file a false document.
In his decision, McAfee found that in 1890 the U.S. Supreme Court About Lonipreempted “the state’s ability to prosecute perjury and false documents in federal district court,” so that the three counts related to the alleged false documents “must be dismissed.”
This is the second time McPhee has dismissed charges in an indictment against Trump. In March, a judge dismissed three charges against Trump that he had solicited a violation of his oath by a public official.
But McPhee left the door open for prosecutors to re-file those charges if they substantiate them with more evidence.
Proceedings in the case are largely on hold while Trump and other defendants appeal McPhee’s ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis to remain as top prosecutor.
Trump’s appeal is scheduled for oral arguments in December at the Georgia Court of Appeals.
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