ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Former President Donald Trump’s lead Georgia attorneys filed a motion on Monday that seeks to dismiss Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ charges against him based on 1st Amendment grounds.
The motion was filed by attorneys Steven Sadow and Jennifer Little in Fulton County Superior Court.
“The core political speech and expressive conduct alleged in this indictment against President Trump are protected from government regulation and thus criminal prosecution by the State,” Monday’s court filing said. “That fact becomes even more clear when considering the context within which the speech was uttered while challenging a presidential election was directed towards the state legislatures, state officials tasked with conducting investigations, and within lawsuits against those same officials.
“The speech sought action by the government, the very body responsible for educating itself before exercising its governmental functions on behalf of the people,” the filing said. “It was directed at the bodies responsible for conducting government business, the bodies with the information in their possession, the bodies undertaking the investigations, and the bodies vested with the authority of adjudicating such complaints.
“The speech was directed at the governmental bodies the Founders believed should always be challenged, and the bodies that must be capable of being challenged in a democracy where citizens are capable of guarding against governmental oppression.”
Last month, Sadow said the nation’s 45th president believed the 2020 election had indeed been stolen from him; thus, his statements about election malfeasance are protected by the First Amendment.
“Here, the indictment’s recitation of supposedly ‘false’ statements and facts, undisputed solely for purposes of a First Amendment-based general demurrer/motion to dismiss, show that the prosecution of President Trump is premised on content-based core political speech and expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment,” Sadow wrote in a Nov. 27 filing.
“This is the ordinary course in free society,” the filing said. “(‘The response to the unreasoned is the rational; to the uninformed the enlightened: to the straight out lie the simple truth.’) The remedy is not a state RICO prosecution against the former President of the United States.”
Trump is facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases in Washington, New York, Florida and Georgia and could potentially be looking at years in prison if convicted.
Trump is charged alongside others — including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law by scheming to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss.
The indictment, handed up in August, accuses Trump or his allies of suggesting Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, could find enough votes for him to win the battleground state; harassing an election worker who faced false claims of fraud; and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electors favorable to Trump.
At the same time, special counsel Jack Smith is asking the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) to rule on questions over presidential immunity, questions that could be pivotal to Trump’s defense in Fulton County.
Smith’s request to bypass the question already before an appellate court would mean a SCOTUS decision on whether Trump can claim immunity would be final and binding.
Trump’s Georgia attorneys have already noted their intent to use a defense crafted around presidential immunity. His attorneys in Fulton County and Washington argue his alleged actions over the 2020 election results were part of his official duties at the time and therefore he has presidential immunity.
While the ruling could be advantageous for Trump if justices – three of whom were appointed by him – decide in his favor, it could be equally as detrimental if they rule in favor of Smith. It would take Trump’s ability to claim immunity off the table and subject him to various charges as a regular defendant.
A district judge has already ruled that Trump cannot claim presidential immunity, at least in regard to his case out of Washington, D.C. over his alleged involvement with the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ provide you with the latest news, headlines and insights as Georgia continues its role at the forefront of the nation’s political scene. Download our Atlanta News First app for the latest political news and information.
Copyright 2023 WANF. All rights reserved.
