The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s racketeering case in Georgia declined Thursday to dismiss the charges based on the First Amendment.
Trump’s attorneys argued in a December motion that the indictment “directly targets core protected political speech and activity,” urging Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to dismiss the charges as violations of the First Amendment. But McAfee found that the state “alleged more than mere expressions of a political nature,” writing that the defendants did not find “any authority that the speech and conduct alleged is protected political speech.”
“Although the defendants characterize the relevant speech or actions as petitions to Congress regarding the validity of electors which must be afforded constitutional protection, at this stage the court must consider the method and manner of the criminal…
