MARCH 13, 2024, UPDATE:
ATLANTA (AP) — The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case on Wednesday (March 13, 2024) dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump, but many other counts in the indictment remain.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in an order that six of the counts in the indictment must be quashed, including three against Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
But the order leaves intact other charges, and the judge wrote that prosecutors could seek a new indictment on the charges he dismissed.
The six charges in question have to do with soliciting elected officials to violate their oaths of office. That includes two charges related to the phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, on Jan. 2, 2021.
“All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said.
The case accuses Trump and 18 others of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
The ruling comes as McAfee is also considering a bid by defendants to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis removed from the case. Defendants have alleged that Willis has a conflict of interest because of her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
MARCH 4, 2024, UPDATE:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump says the Supreme Court opinion unanimously restoring him to 2024 presidential primary ballots is a “BIG WIN” for America. The court Monday (March 4, 2024) rejected state attempts to hold the Republican former president accountable for the Capitol riot. The justices ruled a day before the Super Tuesday primaries that states cannot invoke a post-Civil War constitutional provision to keep presidential candidates from appearing on ballots. The court wrote in an unsigned opinion that that power resides with Congress. The court’s move ends efforts in Colorado, Illinois, Maine and elsewhere to kick Trump off the ballot because of his attempts to undo his loss in the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
MARCH 4, 2024:
Extended version:
JANUARY 19, 2024:
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined an amicus brief requesting the U.S. Supreme Court reverse the Colorado State Supreme Court ruling that kept former President Donald Trump off the ballot for that state’s Presidential Primary election.
The originating lawsuit was filed by six Colorado voters who insisted Trump is disqualified from office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause in the 14th Amendment because of his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 incident at the U.S. Capitol.
A state district judge ruled the insurrection clause does not apply to the presidency and allowed Trump to be on the ballot. Then the Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling barring Trump from the GOP primary ballot under the 14th Amendment.
“Congress, not the Colorado State Supreme Court, has the authority to decide whether to disqualify a person from running for office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” said Attorney General Jackley. “This decision violates the U.S. Constitution and deprives voters of their fundamental right to decide elections.”
The 24 other Attorneys General who joined the brief are from: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The Arizona State Legislature and the legislative leadership of North Carolina also joined the brief.
The brief can be found here: https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/INAG/2024/01/05/file_attachments/2737840/23-719%20tsac%20Indiana%20West%20Virginia.pdf
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