Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers argued in court Friday that his Georgia election subversion indictment should be thrown out because it “violates free speech,” and that if he wins the 2024 election, the trial would need to be postponed anyway, until he completes his second presidential term.
Comments were made during an extensive hearing in Atlanta, featuring arguments from attorneys representing 14 defendants, including Trump, at Fulton County Superior Court. Judge Scott McAfee presided over the hearing, addressing various pretrial motions related to the trial date, attempts to dismiss charges, and discovery matters.
Throughout the approximately six-hour hearing, Judge McAfee refrained from issuing any immediate rulings.
Trump’s legal team, making their first in-court appearance in the Georgia case, where 15 individuals face state charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, argued against the indictment. They contended that the charges, including racketeering or RICO, amounted to the criminalization of protected political activity under the First Amendment. Former President Donald
Steven Sadow, Trump’s lawyer, asserted, “You take the facts as alleged in the indictment… as applied constitutionally with the First Amendment, you’ll find that it violates free speech, freedom of petitioning, all the expressions that the First Amendment is designed to protect, and therefore the indictment needs to be dismissed.”
If the case proceeds past dismissal motions, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis aims for a consolidated trial involving all 15 defendants. Although a trial date has not been set, state prosecutors express a preference for starting in August 2024, a timeline Trump opposes.
Sadow noted, “It’s very possible at that time, that my client will be running for election for president of the United States for the Republican Party,” emphasizing a desire to avoid a trial during the campaign.
Judge McAfee raised a critical question about the case’s fate if Trump were to win the 2024 election before the trial concludes, highlighting the unprecedented challenge of a leading GOP candidate facing indictment in four cases.