In a fresh court filing Monday, former President Donald Trump again requested a Georgia judge to dismiss his Fulton County election tampering charges on First Amendment grounds, calling the indictment “categorically invalid” because it criminalizes “core political speech.”
During a campaign rally held at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on December 17, 2023, in Reno, Nevada, Donald Trump gives remarks to the audience. (Source: Getty Images Image by Justin Sullivan)
Seeking of Georgia Election Tampering Dismissal
“President Trump enjoys the same robust First Amendment rights as every other American,” Trump attorneys Steve Sadow and Jennifer Little said in a new brief. This indictment targets fundamentally protected political speech and action, not just behavior that has an incidental influence on protected expression. Earlier last month, Trump’s lawyers contended that the indictment goes against the right to free speech. The updated document backs up that assertion. On December 1, Sadow informed the court that the indictment had to be withdrawn. The First Amendment, according to Trump’s lawyers in the brief on Friday, not only supports but also promotes his conduct in Georgia, including pleading with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to secure enough votes to reverse his defeat.
The complaint claims that the First Amendment protects the assertion that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen when asserted in public discourse and when appealing or advocating to government officials. Trump’s attorney also claims in the complaint that the Fulton County indictment solely punishes him for speech and advocacy, which are First Amendment-protected. In the charges against President Trump, the Fulton County prosecutors have not found any instances of non-speech or non-advocacy behavior. Every accusation and overt action made against President Trump is predicated on fundamental political advocacy and speech activities that are the foundation of the First Amendment. Even if Trump’s statements are false, lawyers argue that free speech is still guaranteed. According to the document, the government cannot utilize the First Amendment to censor or prosecute speech on contentious social, political, or historical subjects just because it thinks that some points of view are accurate while others are not. Especially in the political context, this conclusion remains unaltered by the prosecution’s claim that the speech was fraudulent.
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty in August to all allegations in the Fulton County district attorney’s massive racketeering indictment for their plans to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. After taking plea deals, four co-defendants testified against other defendants. The former president characterized the district attorney’s inquiry as politically motivated.
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