Judge Scott McAfee has rendered a verdict in the Georgian election interference case against Donald Trump, dropping certain criminal accusations but keeping the majority of them.
Six of the forty-one counts in the indictment against Mr. Trump and some of his co-defendants, including Rudy Giuliani, Judge McAfee concluded lacked enough specificity. He did note, though, that these accusations might be re-filed in the future.
Three accusations pertaining to a call Mr. Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he was reported as stating, "All I want to do is this," were among those dropped. Simply said, I want to locate 11,780 votes—one more than we currently have."
Judge McAfee pointed out in his order that although the accusations included all the necessary components of the offenses, they did not go into adequate depth about the nature of their commission.
For Mr. Trump and his fellow defendants, who had argued to have the charges dropped, this decision is a victory. Now, prosecutors can concentrate on the surviving counts or refile the charges with more details.
At first accused on 41 counts in all, Mr. Trump may spend up to 20 years in Georgian prison if found guilty of the most serious racketeering crime.
Steve Sadow, the Georgia case attorney for Mr. Trump, stressed in reaction to the decision that the prosecution had not made any particular accusations of misconduct on the dropped counts. He demanded that the whole prosecution of President Trump be dropped, characterizing it as political and election meddling.
The defence's attempts to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis dismissed due to ethical concerns are not addressed by the decision, though.
Among the several legal disputes Mr. Trump is embroiled in is a defamation case filed by writer E Jean Carroll, in which he was required to post a $92 million bail while he appealed the ruling. Furthermore, he was convicted guilty of fraud in New York and now faces financial penalties.