Trump Criminal Case in Georgia Narrowed as Some Counts Tossed

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump scored a legal victory Thursday when a Georgia judge narrowed the state’s criminal case against the former president over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.

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Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed three counts in the sprawling racketeering case against more than a dozen defendants, including two against Trump. The former president still faces eight charges.

McAfee ruled the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution barred state prosecutors from pursuing charges that the defendants filed false documents over so-called fake electors. That part of the case “lies beyond this state’s jurisdiction and must be quashed,” McAfee ruled in Fulton County state court in Atlanta.

Trump, the Republican nominee for the White House, was convicted this year in New York over hush-money payments. He faces three other indictments, including in Georgia, where he’s charged with participating in a scheme with 14 co-defendants aimed at overturning his loss to President Joe Biden in the swing state.

Earlier this year, McAfee dismissed six counts against the defendants, leaving counts including racketeering, false statements and writings, impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit computer theft, perjury and forgery.

The case is on hold, however, while the Georgia Court of Appeals considers Trump’s bid to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case. In March, McAfee ruled that Willis’ romance with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created an appearance of impropriety that required one of them to step aside. Wade resigned hours later.

Earlier Thursday, New York’s highest state court dismissed Trump’s challenge to a gag order imposed in his hush-money criminal case. Trump said the order, which bars him from publicly commenting on prosecutors or the members of court staff, violates his right to free speech.

Also on Thursday, a federal appeals court in New York upheld a lower court ruling rejecting Trump’s request to have the hush-money case transferred to federal court before his sentencing next month.

--With assistance from Erik Larson.

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