First Amend­ment pro­tects Trump from Fani Willis’s elec­tion inter­fer­ence charges, attor­ney argues

A judge held a hear­ing Thurs­day to exam­ine for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump’s argu­ment that Ful­ton Coun­ty Dis­trict Attor­ney Fani Willis’s case against him in Geor­gia should be dis­missed because Trump’s actions cit­ed in her indict­ment were pro­tect­ed by the First Amend­ment.
Judge Scott McAfee heard argu­ments from both Trump’s attor­ney and pros­e­cu­tors about the mat­ter, but the judge gave no indi­ca­tion as to where he stood on it or when he would issue a deci­sion.
Trump’s attor­ney Steve Sad­ow urged McAfee to con­sid­er that Willis’s indict­ment, in which she alleged Trump vio­lat­ed Georgia’s rack­e­teer­ing law by ille­gal­ly con­spir­ing to over­turn the 2020 elec­tion, was “ripe” for a First Amend­ment chal­lenge.
McAfee had already denied sim­i­lar motions brought by co-defen­dants Ken­neth Chese­bro and Sid­ney Pow­ell, deter­min­ing that dis­miss­ing the indict­ment on First Amend­ment grounds at …