Fani Willis asks Georgia appeals court to restore 6 charges against Trump, co-defendants

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis is asking an appeals court to reinstate three election subversion charges against former President Donald Trump , in addition to three other counts against his co-defendants, after they were dismissed by a trial court judge in March.

In the new court filing Tuesday to the Georgia Court of Appeals, Willis argues Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee "erred" earlier this year when he tossed six counts relating to the alleged solicitation of the violation of oath by a public officer, over the prosecution's "failure to allege sufficient detail."

"As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission," McAfee wrote in March. "They do not give the defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently."

In Tuesday's filing, Willis claimed the indictment was "extremely clear."

"The indictment included an abundance of context and factual allegations about the solicitations at issue, including when the requests were made, to whom the requests were made and the manner in which the requests were made," the filing states.

"When read as a whole, the indictment provided an extremely clear picture of the acts committed by Cross-Appellees," Willis added.

The District Attorney's filing was submitted on the same day early voting began in Georgia for the 2024 presidential election, where Trump is the Republican nominee.

Trump and his co-defendants pleaded not guilty after they were charged in August 2023 over allegations they tried to subvert the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

Last month, McAfee tossed two additional counts , reducing the number of charges Trump faces in the case to eight.

The Georgia appeals court is also considering a filing by Trump and his co-defendants that could disqualify Willis from prosecuting the case over her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, whom she appointed as special prosecutor. Trump's lawyers claim Willis and Wade benefited financially from his appointment. Oral arguments in that case are scheduled for Dec. 5.