Judge rejects Trump’s First Amendment challenge to indictment in Georgia election case

By KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others has rejected arguments by the former president that the indictment was seeking to criminalize political speech protected by the First Amendment. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in his order Thursday that at this pretrial stage he must consider the language of the indictment in a light favorable to the prosecution. He wrote that the charges do not suggest that Trump and the others are being prosecuted simply for making false statements but rather that they acted willfully and knowingly to harm the government. Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, Steve Sadow, said they “respectfully disagree” with the judge’s findings.