'The usefulness of lies': Prosecutor shreds Trump's First Amendment argument in Georgia

Former President Donald Trump’s attorney argued Thursday his Georgia election racketeering case should be dismissed because, as the prosecutors summarized it, “he lied over and over and over again.”

It was a flabbergasted state attorney Donald Wakeford who spoke out against the First Amendment challenge brought by Trump lawyer Steve Sadow, who argued that the case should be dropped because it attempted to criminalize free speech, and cited the false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen as proof.

“It’s very interesting to hear counsel for Mr. Trump tell us about the usefulness of lies,” Wakeford told Judge Scott McAfee. “It’s almost saying that because these statements are false, they should be dismissed.”

Sadow’s argument claimed that prosecutors rested their indictment on the fact that Trump repeatedly claimed the election he lost against President Joe Biden had been rigged, despite evidence to the contrary.

“The mere fact that it’s false is all that they have,” Sadow said. “There’s no allegation beyond the fact that those statements are made.”

But Wakeford accused Sadow of essentially “rewriting the indictment” by leaving out a key point in the Fulton County District Attorney’s argument — namely that Trump is accused of lying to the government.

“That does harm to the judicial system,” Wakeford said. “These statements are part of criminal conduct larger than the false statements.”

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Wakeford reminded the court that Trump stands accused of orchestrating a criminal conspiracy, and while the former president remains free to argue at trial that he was simply expressing “well-intentioned concerns,” that claim was inappropriate for Thursday’s hearing.

“It’s not a basis for dismissing the indictment,” Wakeford told McAfee. “He lied over and over and over again.”

As the hearing unfolded, former U.S. Attorney and political commentator Harry Litman took to X to weigh in on McAfee's handling of the hearing after the tumultuous court battle that saw District Attorney Fani Willis successfully battle for her right to prosecute Trump.

"McAffee [sic] trying to right the ship after the turbulent waters of the last couple months," Litman wrote. "He's giving Trump lawyer plenty of room to argue that the indictment itself criminalizes core political speech. But the argument won't go anywhere."