On Thursday, a Georgia judge denied former President Donald Trump’s attempt to dismiss criminal charges in the state’s 2020 election interference case against him, which the Republican former U.S. president argued violate his free speech rights via Reuters.
It has been noted that the Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found that the indictment alleges statements by Trump and 14 others charged in the case were made “in furtherance of criminal activity” and are not protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Trump and the other defendants were slapped with charges of racketeering and other offenses over their effort to overturn Trump’s defeat in Georgia to Democratic President Joe Biden. They have pleaded not guilty.
The case is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump faces as the Nov. 5 election nears. His first trial, related to hush money payments to a porn star, is due to get underway in New York later this month.
“President Trump and other defendants respectfully disagree with Judge McAfee’s order and will continue to evaluate their options regarding the First Amendment challenges,” Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead lawyer on the Georgia case, said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment.
The claims against Trump in Georgia center on efforts to put together a different group of presidential electors who promised to support him even after Biden won the state, as well as Trump’s phone conversation to the state’s top election official in January 2021, requesting that he “find” enough votes to reverse his narrow loss.
McAfee’s decision indicates that he will proceed with the case’s trial despite Trump and eight other defendants’ ongoing attempts to have the case’s prosecutor, Fani Willis, removed from office. In the upcoming weeks, an appeals court in Georgia is scheduled to decide the matter.
McAfee said it will be up to a jury to determine if Trump and other defendants, which include his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, acted with criminal intent.
