Prosecutors say Trump's First Amendment claims are a matter for a jury

Attorney Steve Sadow speaks during the hearing in Atlanta on Thursday. Pool via WXIA

During Thursday’s hearing on Donald Trump’s effort to dismiss the indictment against him in Georgia over alleged election interference on First Amendment grounds, prosecutors argued that it was premature to address free speech arguments.

Donald Wakeford, a prosecutor with the Fulton County district attorney’s office, argued that it was “premature to consider” First Amendment arguments and that such arguments should be put before a jury during trial. Wakeford added that all the communication from Trump in the indictment related to charges in the case are not protected by the First Amendment. 

Meanwhile, Trump’s attorney, Steve Sadow, has argued in a court filing that the charges should be dismissed because free speech in America expressly protects political speech.

“President Trump enjoys the same robust First Amendment rights as every other American,” Sadow wrote in his filing in December. “The indictment here does not merely criminalize conduct with an incidental impact on protected speech; instead, it directly targets core protected political speech and activity. For this reason, it is categorically invalid under the First Amendment.”