KVSP Trump asks judge in Georgia election case to dismiss 2 more counts against him
Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on April 24, 2024
(ATLANTA) — Former President Donald Trump, in a court filing Wednesday, asked the judge overseeing his Georgia election interference case to dismiss two more counts against him.
Trump’s filing urges the judge to dismiss counts 15 and 27 of the indictment, which charge him with conspiracy to commit filing of false documents as well as the filing of false documents.
The first charge relates to the so-called alternate elector plot, and accuses Trump and other defendants of mailing false documents related to that effort to the chief judge of U.S. district court in Georgia, as an alleged “substantial step.”
The second charge accuses Trump and attorney John Eastman of filing a document that included “materially false statements” in a federal lawsuit.
Trump’s attorneys claim those charges must be dismissed because the state “lacks the authority” to punish conduct that is related to the federal government. They claim the statue used in the indictment “reaches too far” and that the state “has no jurisdiction or authority to enforce federal criminal law.”
“As such, the state is without jurisdiction or authority to prosecute President Trump when the plain purpose of doing so is to protect the integrity of federal matters,” the filing states.
The filing comes after the judge in the case previously dismissed six counts in the indictment, three of which were against Trump. The former president initially faced 13 counts in the case, and now faces 10.
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Scott Hall subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.
The former president has blasted the district attorney’s investigation as being politically motivated.
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