Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has asked a Georgia appeals court to reinstate six charges against former President Donald Trump and five others that were previously dismissed. The charges are related to allegations of illegally soliciting Georgia officials to violate their oaths of office and are part of a broader indictment accusing Trump and his associates of attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. In a brief filed for the state’s Court of Appeals, Willis argued that the judge erred in dismissing the charges.
She stated that the indictment provided ample context and factual allegations about the solicitations, including details about the requests, when they were made, to whom, and how. Judge Scott McAfee had initially dismissed the solicitation charges in March, citing a lack of detail, which he deemed essential for the defendants to mount a defense. “The lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal,” McAfee wrote at the time.
Trump’s lead counsel, Steve Sadow, criticized the brief from Willis’ office, asserting that the trial court’s dismissal was correct under Georgia law.
Fulton DA seeks reinstatement of charges
The dismissed counts implicated Trump, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Ray Smith, and Bob Cheeley in allegedly trying to influence state officials post-2020 election.
Judge McAfee also dismissed an additional three counts regarding the filing of false documents in September, a decision prosecutors are also expected to appeal. This case is one among several legal challenges faced by Trump. The Fulton County case has been stalled since June due to questions about whether Willis should be removed from the case due to a controversial relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Moreover, a federal case accusing Trump of unlawfully removing confidential national security material was dismissed in July. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing, pleading not guilty in all his legal battles, which include the aforementioned cases and a New York case concerning alleged efforts to suppress a story involving an extramarital affair before the 2016 presidential election. The outcomes of these legal proceedings continue to unfold as prosecutors seek to fortify their cases against the former president.
