Attorneys say RICO indictment against election interference defendants violates First Amendment

ATLANTA — Attorneys for former president Donald Trump and the other defendants in the Georgia election interference case returned to the courtroom Friday to ask the judge to throw out the indictment.

Attorneys claim even if the defendants in the case did lie, they are protected by the First Amendment. They said their clients were engaging in political speech and insisted, they were being wrongly prosecuted.

“This is the first time that a prosecution of this type has been brought in this country,” defendant Robert Cheeley’s attorney Chris Anulewicz told the court.

The prosecution accuses many of the defendants of lying to state legislators about voter fraud allegations -- allegations proved false by federal and state investigations.

“The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that those types of statements, even if false, do not allow the state to regulate them in the context of an election,” Anulewicz said.

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Trump’s Georgia attorney, Steve Sadow, went so far as saying he’d agree, just for this hearing, that Trump did what he’s alleged to have done, but that it was protected speech.

“We will agree for the purposes of a First Amendment challenge, that the allegations, arguments, facts in this indictment are to be taken as true for the purposes of that challenge and that challenge alone,” Sadow said.

But the state argued that this isn’t a First Amendment case at all and that Trump and the others can’t argue free speech when, according to prosecutors, because they used that speech to commit crimes.

“This is a prosecution for violating the Georgia RICO Act, individuals conspiring to participate in a pattern of racketeering activity while associated with a criminal conspiracy,” prosecutor Will Wooten said.

The judge has already dismissed similar arguments from other defendants. There was no ruling on Friday.

RELATED NEWS:

Judge makes both sides come to new bond agreement for election interference defendant Harrison Floyd is one of 15 defendants facing charges of trying to interfere in the 2020 election, including former President Donald Trump.

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