The Georgia 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump is moving forward with the first hearing scheduled since District Attorney Fani Willis was allowed to continue leading the investigation. Trump is accused of unlawfully attempting to reverse Georgia’s 2020 election results, but denies the allegations. The hearing is set for Thursday morning, and Trump is not expected to attend.
Trump’s lead attorney, Steve Sadow, is expected to argue that the charges should be dropped because Trump’s political speech is protected under the First Amendment. Sadow contends that criminalizing Trump’s speech disputing the election outcome while endorsing the election is considered acceptable shows blatant viewpoint discrimination. However, previous attempts by co-defendants to use the First Amendment argument were dismissed by the court.
Former Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer, another co-defendant, will also be heard during the hearing. Shafer’s attorneys claim he was simply following the advice of legal counsel when he was allegedly involved in the fake electors plot. Despite Shafer’s actions in attempting to illegitimately certify Trump’s win in Georgia, his lawyers argue that it does not amount to racketeering activity. No trial date has been set, but Willis is hopeful they can proceed before the November 2024 election.
Willis expressed her optimism about moving forward with the case following two months of hearings over her alleged affair with Nathan Wade, a prosecutor who stepped down from the case after McAfee’s ruling. She acknowledged that some of the defendants have prior cases with trial dates before theirs and mentioned her respect for other jurisdictions with ongoing cases. The main focus now is on progressing with the case and potentially reaching a resolution before the upcoming contentious election in November 2024. Despite the various legal arguments and delays, the case against Trump and his co-defendants for election interference continues to move through the court system.
