Judge denies defendant's motion to dismiss Georgia election case over paperwork error

The judge overseeing the Georgia 2020 election interference case has denied a motion from defendant Kenneth Chesebro to dismiss his case over an alleged paperwork error by one of the prosecutors.

Chesebro had alleged that Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who was brought in by the district attorney to help investigate the election interference case, didn't file the oath of office required to join the DA's team.

His motion alleged that Wade filled out the oath of office paperwork, but did not file it as required by law until just last week -- an error that Chesebro said makes Wade's work "void as a matter of law."

In his order on Friday, Judge Scott McAfee said that Chesebro's motion "failed to establish" that the statute they cited -- that oaths of office must be taken and filed -- "is even relevant" to the prosecutor.

The judge said that filing the oath would not be required by those working only on one specific case.

"Defendant's motion recognizes this exception, but then blithely moves on without explaining why it should not apply," McAfee wrote.

"Despite the lack of filing, Special ADA Wade's acts while in office would nevertheless be valid as a de facto officer," wrote the judge.

The order comes one day after McAfee rejected another motion to dismiss the indictment by Chesebro's codefendant, Sidney Powell.

Chesebro and Powell are scheduled to be the first defendants in the case to go to trial, on Oct. 23.

They and 17 others, including former President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty in August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.

Defendant Scott Hall subsequently took a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to tampering with voting machine equipment.