GA appeals court affirms dismissal of multiple counts in Trump election case

Since his Nov. 5 electoral victory, Donald Trump has seen many of his ongoing legal problems effectively disappear, and he recently notched another win, this time in the state of Georgia.

As The Hill reports, an appeals court in the Peach State affirmed on Friday a prior decision dismissing six counts in the 2020 election interference case brought against Trump and a series of co-defendants.

Appeals court sides with Trump

The outlet explained that a decision from a trial court judge declaring that the charges at issue lacked the required level of detail was upheld at the appeals level, signaling another positive development in Trump's continued legal battles.

Writing for the three-judge panel was Judge E. Trenton Brown III, and he articulated the rationale, which found unanimous support.

“We find that the indictment fails to include enough detail to sufficiently apprise the defendants of what they must be prepared to meet so that they can intelligently prepare their defenses,” he wrote.

The dismissed charges are related to allegations regarding supposed efforts to solicit state officials to violate oaths of office in relation to the election results.

The very survival of the case against Trump is now in doubt, not just because of his election to the presidency, but also because of the current status of Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis, who brought the charges in the first place.

Willis fighting disqualification

In yet another thread of contention within the Trump case in Georgia, Willis continues to contest her recent disqualification from further participation in the prosecution of the president-elect.

Willis was booted from the case in the wake of revelations about a personal, romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired to assist in the case against Trump.

In attempting to retain control over the case, Willis has argued that “no Georgia court has ever disqualified a district attorney for the mere appearance of impropriety without the existence of an actual conflict of interest,” which she still claims did not exist with regard to Wade, suggesting that her removal is akin to “overreach.”

But, as The Hill reported separately, Trump's legal team is opposing Willis' attempt to secure review by the Georgia Supreme Court, stating that such a proceeding is not a right and should be granted only “in cases of great concern, gravity, or importance to the public,” noting also that the court of appeals deemed there to have been an “odor of mendacity” surrounding the D.A.'s conduct.

If Willis' disqualification stands, another Georgia prosecutor would have to be identified as willing and able to assume the case against Trump, effectively having to start from scratch, a scenario that seems increasingly unlikely amid the president-elect's imminent return to the White House on Monday.