Georgia judge throws out two charges against Donald Trump

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Thursday dropped two of the charges in the indictment against former United States president Donald Trump and his co-defendants in Georgia.

The indictment accuses Trump, 78, and his co-defendants of allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, Reuters reported.

The dropped charges were related to the filing of fake elector certificates in a federal court, asserting that Trump had won the election in Georgia, despite losing to Democrat rival Joe Biden by approximately 12,000 votes.

However, McAfee did not dismiss the entire indictment, citing that state prosecutors cannot bring a case for federal crimes under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.

As a result, the Republican presidential candidate now faces a total of eight felony counts in Georgia, including allegations of racketeering and other offences.

"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.