Demonstrating the corrupt nature of the charges Fulton County DA Fani Willis brought against former President Donald Trump and his codefendants Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on March 13 ruled on several demurrers, striking six counts from the 41-count indictment against former President Donald Trump and 14 codefendants.
The demurrers were brought by President Trump, former White House chief-of-staff Mark Meadows, and attorneys John Eastman, Ray Smith III, Robert Cheeley, and Rudy Giuliani.
According to an analysis posted by our friends at the Techno Fog substack these charges are quashed as to the following Defendants: Trump, Rudy Guiliani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Ray Smith III, and Robert David Cheeley. Here are the charges rejected by Judge McAfee, all of which alleged conduct in violation of Georgia’s Solicitation of Violations of Oath by Public Officer statutes (OCGA §§ 16-4-7 and 16-10-1):
* Count 2 alleged that multiple Defendants solicited members of the Georgia Senate on December 3, 2020 to violate their oaths of office by requesting they “unlawfully appoint presidential electors.”
* Count 5 alleged that Trump unlawfully solicited the Speaker of the Georgia House on December 7, 2020 to violate his oath of office by requesting a special session to appoint presidential electors.
* Count 6 alleged that Defendants Smith and Giuliani solicited members of the Georgia House on December 10, 2020 to violate their oaths of office by requesting they “unlawfully appoint presidential electors.”
* Count 23 alleges that multiple Defendants solicited members of the Georgia Senate to violate their oath of office on December 10, 2020 by requesting they “unlawfully appoint presidential electors.”
* Count 28 alleges Defendants Trump and Meadows solicited the Georgia Secretary of State to violate his oath of office on January 2, 2021 by requesting “him to unlawfully influence the certified election returns.”
* Count 38 alleges that Defendant Trump solicited the Georgia Secretary of State to violate his oath of office on September 17, 2021 by requesting “him to unlawfully decertify the election.”
Judge McAfee quashed these counts through a “special demurrer.”
The ruling comes ahead of an expected decision this week on a motion to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the case.
The ruling was not related to a defense effort to disqualify Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., who is leading the case. A ruling on that matter, which has made headlines for weeks after it was revealed that Ms. Willis had engaged in a romantic relationship with another prosecutor, is expected by the end of the week, reported the New York Times.
The nine-page ruling on Wednesday took aim at charges asserting that Mr. Trump and other defendants had solicited public officials to break the law. For example, one count against Mr. Trump said that he “unlawfully solicited, requested and importuned” the Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to violate his oath of office by decertifying the election.
“These six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission,” Judge McAfee wrote in his ruling. “They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently, as the Defendants could have violated the Constitution and thus the statute in dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct ways.”
Mr. Trump and his former personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, had faced the most charges, at 13 apiece. They now each face 10 charges in the Georgia case, according to reporting by Richard Fausset and Danny Hakim of the New York Times.
Steve Sadow, lead defense counsel for President Trump in the Fulton County, GA case released a short statement on X saying:
"The Court made the correct legal decision to grant the special demurrers and quash important counts of the indictment brought by DA Fani Willis. The counts dismissed against President Trump are 5, 28 and 38, which falsely claimed he solicited GA public officials to violate their oath of office. The ruling is a correct application of the law, as the prosecution failed to make specific allegations of any alleged wrongdoing on those counts. The entire prosecution of President Trump is political, constitutes election interference and should be dismissed.”
This was a good win for Trump and his codefendants; however, it is important to recognize that these counts weren’t dismissed with prejudice.
As our friends at Techno Fog explained, the State may seek a reindictment which would supplement these six counts. Theoretically, the reindictment would fix the problems observed by Judge McAfee by providing more details concerning the parts of the oaths of office the Defendants asked Georgia officials to violate, and by specifying the underlying felony being solicited. In the alternative, the State may appeal Judge McAfee’s ruling. Techno Fog thinks it is more likely that the State re-indicts.
Georgia Trump indictments
Fulton County DA Fani Willis
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee
Nathan Wade
Romantic relationship
Robin Yeartie
First Amendment Right to Petition
Special Counsel Jack Smith
Merrick Garland
January 6
Obstruction of Official Proceeding
Free Speech
Hunter Biden
Joe Biden administration
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Washington DC juries
District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan
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