ATL District Attorney Fani Willis Seeks Reinstatement Of Donald Trump Solicitation Charges

Fulton County District Attorney's Office "said what they said."

Fulton County District Attorney’s office seeks reinstatement of six charges in former President Donald Trump’s Georgia election fraud case, The Hill reported. The charges are levied against Donald Trump and five of his co-defendants. Three of the six charges are specific to Trump. District Attorney Fani Willis contends the charge of “solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer” is appropriate and applicable to the state’s case. The state takes exception with Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling to throw out the charges.

“The trial court erred by requiring the State to plead with specific details as to the target crime of violation of oath by a public officer, which is not required for a charge of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer,” the stated added.

The charges Fulton County District Attorney’s Office is attempting to reinstate reference the claims by Trump that the Georgia election votes were fraudulent. After the 2020 election polls closed, Trump was recorded attempting to convince Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” more votes.

Despite audio evidence of the solicitation, Judge McAfee dismissed the charges. The judge’s ruling on the indictment admits there are sufficient grounds to proceed, but Judge McAfee determined that the indictment did not include enough detail.

McAfee stated, “The Court’s concern is less that the State has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the Defendants -– in fact, it has alleged an abundance,” McAfee wrote at the time.

“However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal.”

Assistant District Attorney Alex Bernick argued the indictment contains the evidence required to sustain the charge.

“These details, which amount to far more than a barebones recitation of the statutory elements for the crime of solicitation, clearly gave Cross-Appellees enough information to prepare their defense intelligently by telling them precisely what they were alleged to have done, when, and to whom,” Bernick said.

The case against Trump and 18 named codefendants has been ongoing for the past year; the trial began in August 2023. The proceedings have been marred with controversy. The trial was put on hold earlier this year when Willis was accused of having a conflict of interest regarding the hiring of her romantic partner, Nathan Wade.

Willis denied any wrongdoing and was vindicated when Judge McAfee ruled in her favor, finding no conflict of interest existed but the appearance of conflict. This ruling led to Wade’s removal from the election fraud case, which resumed in March 2024.