Fani Willis Handed Loss in Donald Trump’s Georgia Election Case

Former President Donald Trump has been handed a court win in his election subversion case in Fulton County, Georgia.
Judge Scott McAfee dismissed two charges against Trump on Thursday, ruling that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not have the authority to bring charges that concern the filing of documents in federal court, according to Reuters.
McAfee allowed eight other charges against Trump to proceed while dismissing one charge against Trump’s co-defendants. Trump attorney Steve Sadow reportedly celebrated the ruling as evidence that the former president and his lawyers had “prevailed once again.”
Newsweek reached out to Willis’ office for comment via email on Thursday.
The three charges that were dropped concerned an alleged plot to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win in Georgia with the help of fake pro-Trump electors, as well as false claims allegedly made in a civil lawsuit.
The judge dismissed the charges based on the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which dictates that federal law takes precedence over conflicting state laws.
McAfee did not grant Trump’s request to throw out several other charges on the same basis, ruling that the indictment is not “so inseparably connected to the functioning of the national government that it is barred entirely by the Supremacy Clause.”
McAfee also rejected an attempt to dismiss the entire case due to the federal Electoral Count Act (ECA).
“The ECA does not preempt any of the statutes invoked in the State’s indictment,” the judge wrote. “The indictment is also within the scope of state authority under the appointment powers granted in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution and the police powers reserved by the states in the 10th Amendment.”
McAfee previously dismissed six counts against Trump and his co-defendants, including three that applied to Trump himself.
Trump is appealing a decision by McAfee earlier this year to allow Willis to stay on the case following allegations of misconduct related to her relationship with former lead prosecutor Nathan Wade. The judge ruled that Willis could remain on the case if Wade agreed to step aside.
Willis indicted the former president and 18 co-defendants on racketeering and other felony charges last year, based in part on the fake electors plot and Trump’s phone call asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to help him “find” enough votes to reverse the election result.
Four co-defendants have since pleaded guilty after cutting deals with prosecutors, while Trump and the remaining co-defendants have all pleaded not guilty. The former president claims that all of his legal difficulties, which include 34 unrelated felony convictions in New York, are part of a political “witch hunt.”
A Georgia appeals court is set to hear arguments in the Willis matter in December, with the underlying case remaining on hold at least until then.
Update 9/12/24, 6:15 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.