Donald Trump still faces eight counts in his Georgia election fraud case after a judge threw out two charges on Thursday.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that the two charges brought by District Attorney Fani Willis did not apply in state court, writing that they were “beyond the state jurisdiction and must be quashed.”
Those charges are the filing of false documents and conspiring to file false documents, relating to Trump’s alleged attempts to put forward alternate electors to falsely verify his election victory in Georgia, a swing state that narrowly backed President Joe Biden in 2020.
However, McAfee refused to remove a racketeering charge, one of the most serious on the indictment and one typically reserved for organized crime figures. That count is supported by 161 alleged acts that Trump and his co-defendants are accused of committing to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
For that charge, Trump is charged under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which this year has been used against a group of rappers and alleged drug dealers operating in the Atlanta area.
The federal RICO Act was created in 1970 and has been to dismantle the mafia in the U.S. The Georgia version is broader and can be used against any “enterprise,” allowing prosecutors to use it against a wide range of conduct, from drug dealing to election interference.
The charge is designated as a “serious felony” and, for sentencing purposes, is on the same level as robbery and kidnapping.
In the fake election plot, while two of those charges were dismissed on Thursday, Trump is still charged with a series of crimes, including conspiracy to impersonate a public officer and conspiracy to make false statements.
Other charges relate to false statements Trump made while launching a legal challenge to the election result.
Trump filed a challenge in Georgia on New Year’s Eve 2020, in which he falsely claimed that there was massive voter fraud. He was indicted on one count of filing false court documents, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
Trump had signed a court document confirming that the facts in his December 31 complaint were true to the best of his knowledge.
In March, McAfee dismissed six other counts of the 40-count indictment, three relating to Trump.
One of the three charges against Trump dropped in March relates to a phone call he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, in which he asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to win in Georgia.
The second charge was related to a phone call Trump made on December 7, 2020, to Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, asking him to convene a special session of the legislature to reverse Biden’s Georgia victory.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on August 3. Trump faces eight charges in Georgia relating to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The third involves a letter Trump sent Raffensperger in September 2021 asking him to overturn the Georgia result “and announce the true winner.”
Trump now faces eight charges, down from an original 13. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign via email for comment on Friday.
In Thursday’s ruling, McAfee did not rule out dismissing other counts on the indictment in light of the Supreme Court‘s July 1 ruling on presidential immunity, which gave Trump broad protection from prosecution.
McAfee said his decision did not take the Supreme Court decision into account because the parties have not yet argued them before his court.
