Donald Trump's lawyer, Steven Sadow, argued that the charge of alleged election interference in Georgia in 2020 should be dismissed because it violates the First Amendment.
A hearing was held this Friday in which Trump's lawyer attempted to dismiss the case against the former president or at least delay the trial deadlines.
At the daylong hearing in Atlanta, the attorney presented arguments in Fulton County Superior Court that the allegations brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis violate free speech.
According to Sadow, "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."
Steven Sadow, the lead counsel for Donald Trump in his Georgia racketeering case, said that any trial would have to wait until 2029 at the earliest should Trump win the presidential election, The Washington Post reported. https://t.co/yfglRld2C8
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 1, 2023
The former president's legal defender also highlighted that if he wins the 2024 elections, the trial should be postponed until after completing a possible second presidential term.
As expected, Fulton County prosecutors rejected claims that the prosecution is seeking to interfere in the 2024 election. Prosecutor Nathan Wade said Willis' only intention is to advance the case and that the trial would not constitute electoral interference.
It should be noted that this is the first time that Trump's lawyer has appeared in the case involving the former president and 14 other defendants.
The judge in charge has not issued a ruling yet
Judge Scott McAfee, presiding over the hearing, has yet to rule on the motions presented during the roughly six-hour hearing. However, he acknowledged the sensitivity of the case. In fact, at one point, McAfee asked prosecutors if any voters had been criminally charged before.
"I have not found one," responded prosecutor Will Wooten, acknowledging that this is an unprecedented case.
