Trump Trial Date Set for Dismissal of Charges Based on Free Speech
Donald Trump’s legal team is at it again.
Trump is trying to have the Georgia RICO-election fraud case dismissed based on the freedom of speech, a tactic several other defendants have tried in the past and were denied.
Judge McAfee had ordered the arguments to be heard on March 28.
Try It Again
Two of Trump’s co-defendants in the case have already tried this tactic to have the charges dropped.
Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell both failed using this motion, and both later pleaded guilty to lesser charges, but they also agreed to be called as witnesses in the case of their fellow co-defendants, including Donald Trump.
In the filing, attorney Steven Sadow stated, "Here, the indictment's recitation of supposedly 'false' statements and facts, undisputed solely for purposes of a First Amendment-based general demurrer/motion to dismiss, show that the prosecution of President Trump is premised on content-based core political speech and expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment.”
Sadow further stated that the remedy to battle false speech "is speech that is true … not a state (racketeering) prosecution against the former president of the United States."
At the heart of the case are Donald Trump’s claims that the election was rigged as well as the phone call that Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Some experts have chimed in on this motion believing that in order for Trump to use this defense, he would have to admit that his claims about the election being rigged were false, and Trump will never do that.
He has made this his rallying cry for the last four years, as well as recently getting steamed with Fox News’ Bret Baier during an interview, insisting that he won the 2020 election.
Regarding the call made to Raffensperger, this call comes down to the interpretation of Trump’s comments to the Secretary of State to “find” enough votes for him to win the state.
Trump’s attorneys will argue that Trump was merely calling for an investigation of the election, while Fulton County DA Fani Willis will argue that Trump was trying to order Raffensperger to switch votes to help him win the election.
