Judge rejects effort to dismiss Trump Georgia case on First Amendment grounds

A Georgia judge on Thursday denied an effort by former President Donald Trump and 14 others to dismiss the 2020 election-related case in Fulton County, ruling that the First Amendment does not protect the defendants from prosecution.

In a 14-page order, Judge Scott McAfee rejected the argument put forth by the defendants that the charges violate the First Amendment’s protections of political speech and the right to petition Congress.

“[F]ree speech — including political speech — is not without restriction,” McAfee wrote. “These excluded categories include speech integral to criminal conduct, fraud, or speech presenting an imminent threat that the Government can prevent.”

Trump and 18 other co-defendants were indicted last year on state charges by a grand jury in Fulton County, the culmination of an investigation by District Attorney Fani Willis and her office. Prosecutors alleged the defendants worked to overturn the election results in Georgia after Trump lost the state in 2020. Trump and most of the other defendants have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing, while several others have taken plea deals.

The former president faces 10 felony charges, after McAfee dismissed three against him in an earlier decision.

Defense attorneys challenged the state laws underpinning the charges, saying the alleged violations were protected political speech. McAfee ruled that the First Amendment’s protections do not apply, since the speech in question is “alleged to have been made in furtherance of criminal activity.”

“Even core political speech addressing matters of public concern is not impenetrable from prosecution if allegedly used to further criminal activity,” the judge wrote.