Defendants in Georgia election interference case appear in court for motions hearing

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Even as new information is coming out about Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, the judge in the election interference case had two defendants from the sprawling RICO indictment in court for a motions hearing.

Channel 2′s Richard Elliot was at the Fulton County courthouse to see what the two defendants wanted.

One defendant, John Eastman, wants the indictment dismissed, while the other defendant, Harrison Floyd filed motions to have Fulton County turn over all of the election data they have for November 2020.

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Floyd is saying in court that despite multiple investigations saying there was no voter fraud, his attorney can find it if the data is provided to them to review.

Even with a cloud of controversy swirling overhead, Wade led his legal team in the courtroom of Judge Scott McAfee, as the man they consider one of the chief architects of the attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, Eastman, sat in court. His attorneys argued that the statements Eastman made to Georgia lawmakers in December 2020 were protected speech under the First Amendment.

“So we have yet a different type of First Amendment right being exercised by Dr. Eastman in his presentation to the Georgia State Senate,” Attorney Buddy Parker said in court.

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But prosecutor John Floyd told the judge they believed Eastman’s testimony was not protected speech because it was part of a larger conspiracy to overturn the election in Georgia.

“We have laid out 16 overt acts and where he acted with another person which is the vast majority of them. We’ve identified those people,” Floyd told the judge.

Meanwhile, attorneys for Floyd want all of the November 2020 voting records from Fulton County, as they play to try and prove there was voter fraud, something multiple federal and state investigations proved did not happen.

Floyd is accused of helping put pressure on Fulton County poll worker Ruby Freeman, who along with her daughter was defamed by fellow RICO defendant Rudy Giuliana.

While the Judge says they can have the data, Fulton County pushed back on it, saying it would take too many manhours to retrieve all of the information being requested.

“57,000 hours on some of these issues, and so where we left it is sure we have contested issues of fact,” McAfee said in court.

Both sides whittled down that number and the plan to get together to whittle it down some more. McAfee is expected to weigh in again in two weeks.

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