A Georgia judge on Thursday rejected a motion by attorney Sidney Powell to dismiss the charges brought against her by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in relation to the 2020 presidential election.
Powell had claimed that Willis' office committed prosecutorial misconduct when it implicated her in an election office breach in Coffee County during the 2020 election by failing to interview key witnesses.
"Dismissing an indictment is also something where you have to show prejudice," said Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. "It's something that's not done lightly, and it has to be something that's done with a concrete reason."
"And just purely on procedural grounds, I don't believe that this motion to dismiss for misconduct ... [clears] the procedural bar of being something that's under the court's authority," he added.
McAfee's decision comes ahead of Powell's trial alongside fellow attorney Kenneth Chesebro on Oct. 20 for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Both Powell and Chesebro asked for a speedy trial pursuant to Georgia law, cutting off their case from the 17 other defendants listed in the indictment.
Former President Donald Trump and the 16 others will be tried at a later date, despite Willis' attempt to try them all together.
Powell faces six other counts in connection to an election equipment breach in January 2021 — an incident she has denied being a part of.
"Ms. Powell had nothing to do with Coffee County. She didn't have anything to do with it. I've been contending that there's evidence that shows that," Brian Rafferty, Powell's attorney, said at the hearing.
Prosecutors allege Powell contracted with a data firm to tamper with tabulating machines and electronic ballot markers in the county.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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