Jonathan Turley Says Fulton DA’s Racketeering Case Against Trump ‘Just Got Thinner’ After Judge Throws Out Six Counts

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Wednesday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s case against Donald Trump took a hit after a judge’s ruling.

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six counts of the indictment Willis secured against Trump and other defendants in August over the former president’s efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. Turley called the ruling “very significant” while speaking to “America’s Newsroom” co-hosts Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer. (RELATED: ‘A Very Bad Day’: Sol Wisenberg Says Fani Willis’ ‘Entire Office’ Should Be Booted From Trump Trial)

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“This is a very significant ruling in one respect and that is the six counts include counts related to the January 2, 2021, call that Trump had with Georgia officials,” Turley said. “And that call has produced a great deal of debate among many of us as to what the president meant and whether it is a viable basis for a criminal charge.”

“What the court is saying is that in putting together this indictment, you went ahead and stated the crimes but you really didn’t explain in detail how Trump committed those crimes or these other defendants and the court is saying when you – in doing that you didn’t give them notice for them to be able to put on a defense,” Turley continued.

Trump allegedly demanded that Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “find 11,780 votes,” according to audio of a phone call that was leaked to the Washington Post. The call was a central component in the charges Willis filed against Trump.

“He is absolutely right in that respect. It with was one of the objections many of us have made to the indictment is that it is very loosely held together,” Turley said. “I think it was a poorly crafted indictment. That doesn’t mean that they can’t come back and try to revive those counts. But that is going to cause a delay.”

Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade were already under scrutiny after attorneys for former Trump campaign aide Michael Roman filed a motion for Willis’s disqualification on Jan. 8 alleging that Willis, who hired Wade as a special prosecutor to help probe and prosecute the former president, was in a romantic relationship with Wade. McAfee said on March 1 he would rule within two weeks whether Willis would be disqualified following a hearing during which attorneys for Trump and other defendants outlined their case for Willis’s removal. (RELATED: ‘They Are Toast’: Conservatives Erupt Over Fani Willis Hearing)

“If they have to come back with a superseding indictment, it is very likely it would push this beyond the election,” Turley said. “What’s also interesting about the judge’s decision, he said, I’m not saying you can’t use the underlying conduct to prove racketeering, which would include that call. So you can cite to it as conduct, but you don’t have enough here to say that this specific crime was committed by that conduct.”

“So he is already saying the call can be part of the trial. What does it leave us with?” Turley continued. “The possibility of a delay if they want to go for a superseding indictment, but it also raises and magnifies previous question about the basis for this racketeering claim. This is a really thin soup for a racketeering claim and it just got thinner.”

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