A Georgia judge dismissed 6 charges against Trump in the state. While not getting rid of all his legal trouble in the state, this is a marked improvement in Trump’s position. This is one of the few cases where Trump has co-defendants, and it being a state court makes the process slightly more complex.
Fani Willis’s improper relationship with her hired prosecutor could end up blowing up the entire case, but is still under review by the judge. A Georgia General Assembly investigation could also result in Willis being eventually impeached. The NY Times reports:
In a surprise move on Wednesday, a judge in Atlanta quashed six of the charges against former President Donald J. Trump and his allies in the sprawling Georgia election interference case, including one related to a call that Mr. Trump made to pressure Georgia’s secretary of state in early January 2021.
The judge, Scott McAfee of Fulton Superior Court, left intact the rest of the racketeering indictment, which initially included 41 counts against 19 co-defendants. Four of them have pleaded guilty since the indictment was handed up by a grand jury in August.
Next to beating the charges head on, a long enough delay on the case could have Trump stand trial after the election. Especially if he is elected, this would create a Constitutional crisis between federal and state power. The Washington Post says:
If McAfee rules to disqualify Willis’s office, she would almost certainly seek to immediately appeal the decision — and it would fall to the judge to rule whether to allow her to. McAfee has a reputation for transparency and for being mindful of avoiding trial-level errors that could improve chances for a successful appeal, making it a distinct possibility that he would allow such an appeal to go forward.
Meanwhile, the case against Trump would almost certainly be delayed if not scuttled altogether. It would fall to a state panel called the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to identify a new prosecutor to take on the case. That could take months or even years.
The more is published about the process in these cases, the more Trump’s claims of government persecution get validated. The process of the trial will be especially important for Georgia’s election, where Trump and Biden had a contested and close result.
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