Lawyers for former President Trump on Thursday argued in court that the 2020 election interference case should be tossed on First Amendment grounds.
In a hearing Thursday in Fulton County Superior Court, lawyers for former President Trump and co-defendants argued that the sweeping election interference case against him should be tossed, citing First Amendment protections for political speech.
Judge Scott McAfee presided over the hearing Thursday morning in the first court appearance in the Trump case since ordering District Attorney Fani Willis to remove special counsel Nathan Wade from the case over their romantic affair.
McAfee heard arguments related to motions from Trump and co-defendant David Shafer, the former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, who his lawyer says acted legally when he and other state Republicans signed a certificate asserting that Trump won the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Steve Sadow, counsel for the former president and presumptive GOP nominee in the 2024 election, argued Thursday, « There is nothing alleged against President Trump that is not political speech. »
Sadow quoted from a dissent in a key Supreme Court case, United States v. Alvarez, written by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, which says « even where there is a wide scholarly consensus concerning a particular matter, the truth is served by allowing that consensus to be challenged without fear of reprisal.
