Rhino: A Georgia judge on Thursday dismissed two criminal charges in the U.S. state’s 2020 election interference case against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and another against allies of the former president.
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee found that state prosecutors did not have the authority to bring those charges, which relate to the filing of allegedly false documents in federal court.
But McAfee allowed the rest of the charges in the case, including eight against Trump, to proceed. Trump and 14 of his co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges and others stemming from what prosecutors allege was a scheme to reverse Trump’s narrow defeat in Georgia in the 2020 election.
Arguments in the appeals court are scheduled to begin in December, meaning there will be nothing new in the case before the Nov. 5 election when Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Thursday’s decision relates to allegations that Trump and his allies compiled a list of facts of manipulation and fraud and filed a civil suit challenging the election results that included false claims.