Judge refuses to exonerate Trump from the Georgia electoral struggle for freedom of expression. The former president had alleged that his words to alter the result were part of his political speech and were protected by the First Amendment.

Trump and 18 others were indicted last year, accused of participating in a scheme to try to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. All of the defendants are accused of violating the law, along with other alleged crimes. The hearing before Judge Scott McAfee in Fulton County Superior Court was the first since McAfee refused to remove prosecutor Fani Willis from the case.