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Fulton County Court Holds Hearings Ahead Of Trump Georgia Election Case

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Fulton County GA District Attorney Fani Willis

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State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, in Atlanta, USA - 15 Feb 2024

State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump, in Atlanta

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ATLANTA — An attorney for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Donald Trump</a> pressed the judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case to dismiss charges against the former president, arguing that Trump’s statements challenging the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, even if they were false, were protected political speech under the First Amendment.

In a Thursday court hearing, Steve Sadow, an attorney for Trump, argued his client’s claims “calling into question” his 2020 loss should not be criminalized because they were “core value, political discourse” that is constitutionally protected free speech even if it is found to be untrue.

“There is nothing alleged factually against President Trump that is not political speech,” Sadow argued. “Take out the political speech. No criminal charges.”

Sadow suggested that Trump had been charged in Georgia because prosecutors believed the former president’s statements were untrue. But he told Fulton County Superior Court <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/15/judge-scott-mcafee-georgia-trump-case/" target=_blank>Judge Scott McAfee</a>, who is presiding over the case, that even false statements made in campaign or election statements are still protected speech under the First Amendment.

“The mere fact that it’s false is all that they have,” Sadow said.

Fulton County prosecutors vigorously disagreed, accusing Trump’s lawyer of trying to recast the charges against Trump, who they claim was squarely at the center of a sweeping criminal conspiracy to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/interactive/2023/trump-georgia-election-investigation/?itid=ap_amygardner" target=_blank>reverse his loss in Georgia</a> in 2020.

“It’s not just that he lied over and over and over again,” prosecutor Donald Wakeford said. “What we have heard today is an attempt to rewrite the indictment, to take out parts that are inconvenient, and say, ‘Well, it’s all speech. It’s all talking.’ He was just a guy asking questions and not someone who was part of an overarching criminal conspiracy trying to overturn election results for an election he did not win.”

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Trump’s false statements about the election in Georgia were central to the alleged conspiracy, Wakeford added. “It’s not that the defendant has been hauled into a courtroom because the prosecution doesn’t like what he said. … He’s being prosecuted for lying to the government.”

McAfee did not rule on Trump’s motion to dismiss or give any timetable for a decision. It was the first court hearing since McAfee ruled two weeks ago that Fulton Country District Attorney <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/01/09/fani-willis-fulton-county-georgia-trump-investigation/" target=_blank>Fani T. Willis</a> (D) and her office could <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/15/fani-willis-trump-georgia-case/" target=_blank>stay on the case</a> after Trump and other defendants sought to disqualify her over <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/16/fani-willis-misconduct-accusations-ashleigh-merchant/" target=_blank>a romantic relationship</a> she had with an outside attorney she appointed to lead the prosecution.

But in a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/15/fani-willis-pdf-judge-decision-trump/" target=_blank>March 15 filing</a>, McAfee did find a “significant appearance of impropriety” and ruled that either Willis and her office or special prosecutor <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/14/nathan-wade-fani-willis-georgia-trump/" target=_blank>Nathan Wade</a> had to leave the case. Wade resigned later that day.

Last week, McAfee granted a “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/20/fulton-election-case-fani-willis-appeal/" target=_blank>certificate of immediate review</a>” allowing Trump and the others to appeal his ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals. That filing is expected in coming days — though McAfee, in granting the motion, said the case will continue to move forward.

Thursday’s hearing was expected to be the first of several motion hearings in coming weeks to tackle a backlog of pretrial motions — including the looming question of a potential trial date and if McAfee divides up the defendants into different trials.

There was a noticeably different atmosphere in the courtroom Thursday compared with recent proceedings, when the motion to disqualify Willis prompted tense interactions between attorneys on both sides. In recent months, the prosecution team took back hallways and private elevators en route to McAfee’s courtroom to avoid the media. But on Thursday, prosecutors walked through the regular entrance to the courtroom several minutes early, where they spoke with Sadow and other attorneys, exchanging pleasantries.

No replacement has been named for Wade, and a spokesman for Willis declined to comment. But Daysha Young, an executive district attorney and member of the prosecution team, responded to McAfee when the judge asked for comments outside the motions being argued Thursday.

Sadow’s political speech arguments on Thursday closely followed those raised by Trump’s attorneys in the federal election interference case. At one point, Wakeford noted “the elephant in this courtroom” by mentioning U.S. District <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/09/27/judge-tanya-chutkan-trump-trial-jan-6/" target=_blank>Judge Tanya S. Chutkan</a>, who is presiding over that case, had denied Trump’s motion challenging that indictment on First Amendment grounds.

“The First Amendment does not protect speech that is used as an instrument of a crime,” Chutkan wrote in a Dec. 1 order.

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Holly Bailey is a national correspondent for The Washington Post based in Atlanta and covering the South. She was previously based in Minneapolis, where she covered the Upper Midwest. She joined The Post in 2019 as a national political reporter covering the 2020 presidential campaign.

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Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his allies, Atlanta, USA - 28 Mar 2024

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