Attorneys for former President Trump on Monday formally asked a judge to toss Trump’s Georgia 2020 election criminal racketeering case on First Amendment grounds.
Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead Georgia attorney, had previewed such an argument at a recent court hearing.
On Monday, Sadow filed court papers insisting that the allegations involved “core political speech,” telling the judge the indictment must be dismissed ahead of trial.
“The First Amendment, in affording the broadest protection to political speech and discussion regarding governmental affairs, not only embraces but encourages exactly the kind of behavior under attack in this Indictment,” wrote Sadow and Jennifer Little, Trump’s other Georgia attorney.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) charged Trump and 18 others with joining a criminal enterprise bent on keeping Trump in the White House after he lost the 2020 election. Four of Trump’s co-defendants have since accepted plea deals, while Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty and deny wrongdoing.
“The Fulton County prosecutors have not identified any non-speech or non-advocacy conduct in the allegations against President Trump,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the new filing.
“An examination of the indictment reveals why: none of the allegations relate to any non-speech or nonadvocacy conduct,” they continued. “Every charge and overt act alleged against President Trump rests on core acts of political speech and advocacy that lie at the heart of the First Amendment.”
The indictment is one of four criminal cases the former president faces as he campaigns to return to the White House.
Trump has made similar First Amendment arguments in his federal case charging him over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. A federal district judge rejected the assertion, and Trump is now appealing.
In the Georgia case, the First Amendment argument is one of multiple expected pretrial defenses from Trump.
Sadow at the recent hearing said Trump would also be filing a motion to dismiss the charges based on presidential immunity. Trump’s pretrial motion deadline is not until next month.