The judge overseeing the 2020 election subversion case in Georgia dismissed three of the remaining 35 charges against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants on Thursday. Two of the charges directly affected Trump, so he now faces only eight of the original 13 charges. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The two Trump charges were related to conspiracy to file and filing false documents, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled, citing a lack of authority due to the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which puts federal law over state law.
“The defendants had cited an 1890 case in which the Supreme Court said a state could not bring a perjury charge spurred by testimony related to a contested congressional election, and their arguments partly persuaded the judge,” according to The New York Times.
Trump’s legal team attempted to have the racketeering charge — the bulk of the lawsuit — dropped, but McAfee upheld the charge. Last summer, 19 defendants were charged with a combined 41 counts in the Georgia election fraud case. Since then, four defendants have entered into guilty plea deals.
Following Thursday’s announcement, Trump’s attorney, Steve Sadow, expressed his satisfaction with the dismissal of the charges on social media.
“President Trump and his legal team in Georgia have prevailed once again. The trial court has decided that counts 15 and 27 in the indictment must be quashed/dismissed,” he said.
The election subversion case, headed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, has yet to go to trial as Trump’s legal team seeks to disqualify her from the case. In January, Willis was accused of having inappropriate relations with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor who she had hired onto the case.
In March, McAfee gave Willis the right to stay on the case if Wade resigned from the case, which he did. The judge also granted Trump’s team the right to appeal the decision, which they did. The Georgia Court of Appeals paused the case in June until they heard the defense’s motion to dismiss Willis.
Oral arguments are set for Dec. 5.
Also on Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals declined Trump’s request to interfere with decisions regarding the criminal case where Trump was found guilty in May. The appeals court said they would not take the case outside of state court, denying his request to move it to federal court.
Trump had made the request in August to U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, arguing “that if the case were moved, he would ask the federal court to dismiss it altogether because jurors at trial saw evidence of his official acts as president,” per Reuters. “He said that violated the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision finding presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for official acts.”