ATLANTA (AP) — A lawyer for former President Donald Trump has argued that the charges against Donald Trump in the Georgia election interference case seek to criminalize political speech that the First Amendment protects. The hearing Thursday before a Georgia judge was on a filing from Trump and on two pretrial motions by a co-defendant and centered on technical legal arguments. Trump lawyer Steve Sadow said a sitting president expressing concerns about an election is “the height of political speech” and that’s protected even if what was said ended up being false. A prosecutor contended that Trump’s statements aren’t protected by the First Amendment because they were integral to criminal activity.
