Georgia judge tosses charges, including several Trump faces, in fake elector case

A Fulton County judge tossed three charges in a case around an alleged fake elector scheme in Georgia, including two charges faced by former President Donald Trump. 

Judge Scott McAfee dismissed two counts of filing false documents and one count of conspiring to file false documents in connection with the alleged plan to send fake electors to Congress after the 2020 election. The wide-ranging case features several defendants, but Trump was charged with the conspiracy count related to false electors and the false document charge.

In the 22-page ruling, McAfee found that the charges fell under federal jurisdiction and couldn’t proceed in Georgia state courts. He also separately upheld a racketeering charge filed against Trump and others, denying defendants’ arguments that the state of Georgia didn’t have the authority to try that charge.

In March, McAfee dropped six charges in the indictment, including three against Trump, citing a lack of sufficient details, whittling down the original 13-count case against Trump. In June, a Georgia appeals court paused proceedings against Trump and some co-defendants, as courts considering whether to allow embattled District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the case. 

Thursday’s ruling only directly impacts Trump lawyer John Eastman and state Senator Shawn Still for now, as Trump’s case is still removed to appeals court. Nonetheless, Trump attorney Steve Sadow celebrated the ruling as a win for Trump, writing in a statement that “President Trump and his legal team in Georgia have prevailed once again.”

In July, a Nevada judge tossed an entire case surrounding a fake elector plot in that state, ruling that the case was filed in the wrong venue and couldn’t proceed.

Trump was re-arraigned earlier this month in a separate federal case for various fake elector schemes and other election subversion projects after special counsel Jack Smith submitted a superseding indictment, replacing initial charges in response to the Supreme Court’s sweeping ruling on presidential immunity this summer.