Fani Willis has been warned that refiling charges against Donald Trump in his Georgia election-interference case would be “dumb.”
Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, is prosecuting the former president and 18 others accused in a 41-count indictment of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges against him and has repeatedly said the case is part of a political witch against him. Newsweek contacted Willis via LinkedIn to comment on this story Friday.
However, Willis’ case suffered a setback on Wednesday when Judge Scott McAfee quashed three counts in the case. He wrote that “the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal” in relation to allegations that Trump attempted to solicit former Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger into breaking their oaths of office in a bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in the state.
While some legal commentators have suggested Willis could refile the charges, Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman said it would be “dumb” of Willis to do so.
“If she reindicts, that would be a big mistake because that would offer an opportunity for people to ask to be rearraigned,” he said in an interview with Salon.
“The concern would be the game board changes with rearraignments, opening up more pathways for parties to introduce evidence and file new motions that may have previously been limited or capped,” Fleischman added.
Photo by Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images
In an interview with Fox News’ The Story With Martha MacCallum, Trump lawyer Alina Habba celebrated the judge’s decision to drop the three charges, adding that it was a “step in the right direction.”
“I wish all the counts had been dropped because that’s probably what should have been. I mean, at least it’s a step in the right direction. It goes to the sloppiness of, frankly, the prosecutors down there. We know that’s the case, and more importantly that they should have not been brought in general,” Habba said.
MAGA activists similarly celebrated the news.
Meanwhile, Willis’ future on the case itself is at stake as McAfee is expected to come to a ruling on whether she should be removed because of her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she hired in the case. While the pair have denied a conflict of interest with their relationship, she faced an ethics hearing over claims they benefited from taxpayers’ money.
McAfee said he will announce his decision on Friday.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.