Prosecutors are seeking to revoke bond for defendant in Trump election case in Georgia

Prosecutors in Georgia asked a judge on Wednesday to revoke the bond of one of Donald J. Trump’s co-defendants in the election interference case there, amid allegations that he intimidated witnesses.

The defendant, Harrison Floyd, who once led a group called Black Voices for Trump, faces charges in connection with a scheme to pressure a Fulton County, Georgia, election worker to falsely say she participated in election fraud. He was the only one of the nineteen defendants initially charged in the case who had served time in jail because he had not made advance arrangements to secure a bond deal.

Since the beginning of the month Prosecutors wrote in their motionMr. Floyd forwarded hostile social media messages to the accounts of likely witnesses in the case, including election official Ruby Freeman and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, “in an attempt to intimidate co-defendants and witnesses.”

“@GaSecofState needs to call his lawyer,” Mr. Floyd posted on Xformerly known as Twitter, on November 8. “He’s about to experience some things!”

“Does this sound like Ruby Freeman is being PRESSED?” He posted six days laterwith an audio clip of Ms. Freeman captured on a police body camera.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis called these actions “willful and egregious violations of the conditions of release” and asked the presiding judge, Scott McAfee, to revoke Mr. Floyd’s bond, causing he could be sent back to prison. jail.

Mr. Floyd, also known as Willie Lewis Floyd III, is a former mixed-martial-arts fighter and self-described “polo addict” who is charged in the indictment with racketeering, influencing a witness and conspiracy to make false statements to explain and writings. His lawyer could not immediately be reached Wednesday evening.

Ms. Freeman and her daughter were part of a team that processed votes in Fulton County on election night in November 2020. Shortly after, video footage of the two women processing the ballots was posted online, leading Trump supporters to falsely claim that the women were involved in fraud.

Wednesday’s development comes as Trump is embroiled in battles over silence orders in his other civil and criminal cases. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors asked a Washington appeals court to approve a silence order imposed on Mr. Trump in his federal election interference case, saying his “long history” of attacking his opponents on social media often led to dangers in the real world. .

The gag order was suspended this month by the appeals court as it ruled on whether the judge in the case, Tanya S. Chutkan, had properly imposed it in the first place.

Last month, the judge presiding over Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York fined him $10,000 for violating a gag order in that case, after the former president made comments to reporters that the judge said constituted an attack on a were a court employee.

Mr. Trump has publicly attacked Ms. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, and attacked many aspects of the Georgia case, often using inflammatory language, but has done nothing to prompt the district attorney to try to vacate his bond to withdraw.

Ms. Willis’ motion came on a busy day for the state’s election case. During a hearing earlier in the day, Jonathan R. Miller III, attorney for another defendant, Misty Hampton, admitted to releasing video interviews recorded by the district attorney’s office with defendants who had pleaded guilty.

“This is a very, very public process,” Mr. Miller explained, adding that “the public has a right to know” what was in the statements. The videos were turned over to lawyers as part of the discovery process, and Ms. Willis’ office subsequently sought an emergency injunction to prevent further leaks.

Judge McAfee seemed dubious about allowing unfettered public access to such material, but has not yet ruled on the case.

Four of the original suspects in the Georgia case have already pleaded guilty as part of cooperation agreements. Mr Floyd’s social media posts included attacks against some of them, including Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign lawyer.

The timing of a trial for the other defendants is not clear as no trial date has been set. But there is increasing speculation that Ms Willis will pursue a summer start. On Tuesday, she said a trial would most likely “not be completed until winter or early 2025.”