WASHINGTON: A Georgia judge on Thursday dismissed three of the counts in the indictment accusing former US president Donald Trump and co-defendants of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the southern state.
Two of the three charges thrown out by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee involved Trump, and he now faces a total of eight felony counts in Georgia.
McAfee declined, however, to quash the entire indictment, which accuses the Republican presidential candidate and his allies of racketeering and other offenses.
The three dismissed charges involved the filing of fake elector certificates with a federal court stating that Trump had won the election in Georgia, although he lost to Democrat Joe Biden by some 12,000 votes.
McAfee said that under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, state prosecutors cannot bring a case for federal crimes.
“The Supremacy Clause declares that state law must yield to federal law when the two conflict,” the judge said in his order.
Trump had been charged with filing false documents and conspiring to file false documents.
The Georgia case has been frozen by an appeals court until it hears a bid by Trump and his co-defendants to disqualify Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who brought the charges.
In March, McAfee rejected an attempt to disqualify Willis following revelations she had a romantic relationship with the man she hired as a special prosecutor.
Trump and his co-defendants appealed the ruling, and the Georgia Court of Appeals is to hear arguments in December.
Because the case is paused, the two counts against Trump of filing false documents will not technically be dropped until after the appeals court rules.
Evidence in the case includes a taped phone call in which Trump asked a top Georgia election official to “find” enough votes to reverse the result.
Eighteen co-defendants were indicted in Georgia along with Trump on racketeering and other charges, including his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Four of Trump’s original co-defendants, including three former campaign lawyers, have pleaded guilty to lesser charges in deals that spared them prison time.
Trump was convicted in a separate criminal case in New York in May of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star who alleged they had a sexual encounter.
Trump is also facing federal charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results, but no date has been set for a trial.
US judge dismisses three counts in Trump election case in Georgia state
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US judge dismisses three counts in Trump election case in Georgia state
Uganda to shut down Internet ahead of Thursday election: communication authority
- There was no statement from the government on the shutdown
- The officials said the authorities did not want to “own” the decision
KAMPALA: Uganda ordered an Internet blackout on Tuesday, two days ahead of elections in which President Yoweri Museveni is seeking to extend his 40-year rule.
“This measure is necessary to mitigate the rapid spread of online misinformation, disinformation, electoral fraud and related risks, as well as preventing of incitement to violence that could affect public confidence and national security during the election period,” the Uganda Communications Commission said in a letter to Internet providers, verified by government officials to AFP.
There was no statement from the government on the shutdown. The officials said the authorities did not want to “own” the decision.
Uganda shut down the Internet during the last election in 2021 — a vote that was marred by widespread allegations of rigging and state violence against the opposition, led by singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who is running again for the presidency.
The government repeatedly promised that the Internet would not be shut down during the election, stating in a post on X on January 5 that “claims suggesting otherwise are false, misleading, and intended to cause unnecessary fear and tension among the public.”
The suspension was due to take effect at 6:00 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) and remain in force “until a restoration notice is issued,” the UCC said.
Essential state services were to be exempted from the ban, it added.
