Georgia prosecutor asks appeals court to reinstate 6 charges in Trump case

Six dismissed charges accusing former President Donald Trump and five others of illegally soliciting Georgia officials to violate their oaths of office should be reinstated, Georgia prosecutors told an appeals court.

In a brief for the state’s Court of Appeals, lawyers for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said a judge “erred” when he dismissed the charges in March.

The charges, which were among a total of 41 filed against Trump and 18 others in 2023, accuse six of the defendants of trying to coerce state officials into helping overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump himself faced 13 counts in the indictment and pleaded not guilty. He is named in three of the six charges that Willis is seeking to have reinstated.

Judge Scott McAfee said in March that the charges of solicitation must be dismissed, writing that Willis’ office failed to provide the defendants with enough information about the charges to defend themselves.

“The lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal,” McAfee wrote.

Willis’ office shot back in their brief, which was filed Tuesday, saying the indictment “included an abundance of context and factual allegations about the solicitations at issue, including when the requests were made, to whom the requests were made and the manner in which the requests were made.”

Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead counsel in the case, said in a statement the brief “is simply incorrect on the law.” 

“The trial court’s dismissal order properly decided that the State failed to sufficiently plead the allegations in the dismissed counts under Georgia law,” Sadow said.

The dismissed counts accuse Trump, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Ray Smith and Bob Cheeley of illegally trying to influence various state officials after the 2020 election.

McAfee also dismissed another three counts regarding filing false documents in September, including two against Trump. Prosecutors are expected to appeal that decision as well.

The case is one of three against Trump that have stalled this year. The Fulton County case has been on hold since June, when the Court of Appeals agreed to consider whether Willis should be removed from the case for a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade that has been criticized by defense attorneys and McAfee.

A federal case accusing Trump of illegally removing confidential national security material from the White House was dismissed in July. Special counsel Jack Smith is appealing that decision.

Proceedings in the other federal case brought by Smith’s office, revolving around Trump’s alleged efforts to overthrow the 2020 election results, were delayed for months as the Supreme Court considered issues related to presidential immunity.

In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The New York State case stemmed from an effort before the 2016 presidential election to suppress an adult film star’s story of an extramarital sexual encounter.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in all four of his criminal cases.