Donald Trump's election conspiracy case in Georgia is ongoing, not ‘over’ | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Trump’s election fraud case in Georgia ended on Feb. 6, 2024

A Feb. 6 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) from the conservative account America First claims the election fraud case against former President Donald Trump in Fulton County, Georgia, came to an abrupt ending.

“BREAKING: the case Is OVER - Fani Willis Finally Admits It," the post’s text reads.

It was shared more than 70 times in two days.

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Our rating: False

The Georgia case remained open as of Feb. 8, 2024, two experts and a Fulton County Superior Court staff attorney said.

Georgia case against Trump, co-defendants remains on the docket

Trump and 18 co-defendants were charged in Fulton County with trying to steal the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Four have pleaded guilty in the case. Trump and the 14 remaining co-defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Attorneys for the former president and one of his co-defendants asked Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to throw out the case, citing a personal relationship between Willis, Fulton County's district attorney, and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

But that disclosure did not bring the proceedings to an end, as the Facebook post claims. As of Feb. 7, the case was ongoing, with a hearing on the dismissal motion scheduled for Feb. 15, said Austin Bragg, a judicial staff attorney for the court.

Fact check: Baseless claim Trump had DA in Georgia election conspiracy case impeached

"Any such claim is mistaken," said John Banzhaf, a professor emeritus of law at George Washington University who has been following the case closely. "The criminal case against Trump remains on the docket, Willis is DA and Wade is still a prosecutor."

The phrasing of the Facebook post, which includes the word “breaking” and the declaration of the case as “over," suggests a new development – the end of the proceedings – took place. But experts and a court official say the status has not changed.

“The case is still pending,” Melissa Redmon, a law professor at the University of Georgia and a former deputy district attorney in Fulton County, told USA TODAY.

The Facebook post includes a link to an article that describes the court filings seeking the removal of Willis and mentions the February hearing on the motion to dismiss filed by an attorney for Michael Roman, one of Trump’s 2020 campaign officials. But that article cites the wrong date for the hearing and does not include any evidence to support the claim.

Willis acknowledged her personal relationship with Wade in a Feb. 2 court filing. She refused to step down, saying she has done nothing wrong, faces no conflict of interest and received no direct or indirect financial benefit from the relationship. She stated in the document that there is “no basis whatsoever” to dismiss the indictment or disqualify her, her office or the special prosecutor.

Elections in Georgia have been a frequent subject of misinformation. Among the false claims USA TODAY has debunked are assertions that a lawsuit discovered thousands of duplicate ballots were found in Fulton County, that Georgia is Democrats’ test site for 2024 “private takeover of election offices” and that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s office acknowledged invalid ballots were counted in 2020.

USA TODAY reached out to America First but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump election case in Georgia is ongoing, not 'over' | Fact check