Donald Trump has had two charges thrown out in his Georgia criminal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The presiding judge ruled Thursday that the charges fall under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which bars state attorneys general from prosecuting federal crimes.
“The Supremacy Clause declares that state law must yield to federal law when the two are in conflict,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in his order.
The judge ruled that two counts against Trump and an additional count against several Trump allies, who were charged as co-defendants, should be thrown out. But he ruled that the rest of the charges — including the Rico racketeering charge — could stand.
Trump now faces eight charges, down from 13. Trump pleaded not guilty last year to the sprawling 2020 election interference case in Fulton County, along with 18 other co-defendants. Four have since entered plea deals and agreed to testify against the other defendants.
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The charges against Trump that were dropped — filing false documents and conspiracy to file false documents — were related to the Trump campaign’s attempt to file false electoral certificates declaring Trump the winner even though he had lost.
The false voter certificates were then sent to the National Archives prior to Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s election victory on January 6, 2021. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Biden with criminal forgery.
“President Trump and his legal team in Georgia have won again. The court has ruled that Counts 15 and 27 in the Indictment must be quashed/dismissed,” Trump’s lead attorney, Steve Sadow, said in a statement.
McAfee’s 22-page order comes as the fate of the case hangs in the balance before a Georgia appeals court decides whether Willis can proceed with the case because of her alleged relationship with her deputy, Nathan Wade.
McAfee refused to remove Willis from the case until Wade resigned to resolve the conflict of interest allegations. Trump’s lawyers have appealed the decision.
Trump’s lawyers have maintained that Willis has a conflict of interest, but have also argued that she should have been disqualified for comments she made about the case during a speech at Big Bethel AME Church in downtown Atlanta. After revelations about her relationship with Wade, Willis attributed the legal attack to racial motivations.
On Thursday, McAfee separately rejected a motion by Trump’s former attorney, John Eastman, and Trump’s fake voter, Shawn Still, to quash the entire indictment, which he said was based on an overly broad interpretation of Georgia’s racketeering statute.
