Judge quashes six charges in Georgia election case against Trump

In a surprise move, an Atlanta judge on Wednesday threw out six of the charges against former President Donald J. Trump and his allies in the sprawling Georgia election interference case, including one related to a call by Mr. Trump for pressure to practice on the Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs. is available at the beginning of January 2021.

The judge, Scott McAfee of Fulton Superior Court, left intact the remainder of the racketeering indictment, which initially included 41 counts.

The ruling did not address a defense effort to disqualify Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney who is leading the case. A ruling on the issue, which made headlines for weeks after it emerged that Ms. Willis was in a romantic relationship with another accuser, is expected by the end of the week.

Wednesday’s nine-page ruling focused on charges alleging that Mr. Trump and other defendants asked government officials to break the law. For example, one indictment accused Trump of soliciting Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to violate his oath of office by, in the judge’s words, “requesting or urging him to unlawfully decertify the election.”

“These six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes, but do not provide sufficient detail as to the nature of their mission,” Judge McAfee wrote in his ruling. “They do not provide the defendants with sufficient information to intelligently prepare their defense, as the defendants could have violated the Constitution and therefore the statute in dozens, if not hundreds, of different ways.”

Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, said the ruling does not weaken the lingering charge of state racketeering, which is central to the case. That charge is based on “overt acts” detailed in the indictment, and the judge explicitly stated that Wednesday’s order does not affect those acts.

He said the prosecutor could choose to take the loss on these smaller counts, or appeal the judge’s order, or resubmit versions of the challenged charges to a grand jury with more details.

The judge’s order reduced the number of charges against Mr. Trump, as well as co-defendants Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Ray Smith III and Robert Cheeley.