An Atlanta-area judge on Wednesday dismissed several counts from the election subversion indictment against former President Donald Trump and several of his allies, saying prosecutors failed to outline the alleged crimes in enough detail.
The nine-page order from Judge Scott McAfee strikes counts against Mr. Trump, former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and attorneys Bob Cheeley, Charles Eastman and Ray Smith. The decision throws out three of the 13 charges against Mr. Trump.
The six counts in question against the various defendants alleged that, in challenging the 2020 election results, they attempted to get members of the Georgia House and Senate and the secretary of state’s office to violate their oaths of office in December 2020 and January 2021. Judge McAfee said those charges did not meet legal requirements.
“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,” Judge McAfee wrote. “However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is … fatal. 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.”
Prosecutors may appeal the decision or refile the charges with finer detail.
As written, the judge said, the charges do not supply enough information for Mr. Trump and his co-defendants “to prepare their defenses intelligently.”
The defendants could have violated the constitutions of Georgia and the U.S. “in dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct ways,” he wrote.
Defense attorneys challenged other charges against Mr. Trump and co-defendants but the judge allowed those to remain.
The decision is a partial victory for Mr. Trump, who faces four criminal trials up and down the East Coast while he campaigns as the presumptive GOP nominee for president.
His attorney, Steve Sadow, took a victory lap.
“The ruling is a correct application of the law, as the prosecution failed to make specific allegations of any alleged wrongdoing on those counts,” Mr. Sadow said. “The entire prosecution of President Trump is political, constitutes election interference, and should be dismissed.”
Judge McAfee is expected to make an even bigger decision by the end of this week — whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case because she had a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Ms. Willis and Mr. Wade took trips and had meals together while Mr. Wade was funded by taxpayers, so defense attorneys say they had an impermissible financial incentive to prosecute the case.
Ms. Willis began investigating Mr. Trump three years ago, based on his efforts to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to dig up enough votes to overturn President Biden’s 2020 electoral victory, which the former president says was rigged. A grand jury last year indicted Mr. Trump and his associates.