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“I don’t think you can put up just the (Raffensperger) phone call” before a jury, said Bullard. “Because the phone call could cut either way, and a good defense attorney will argue … that (Trump) believed in his heart of hearts there was fraud regardless of whether that’s true and that he wanted the local official who was responsible for ensuring the results were accurate to do his job.”
Andrew Fleischman, an Atlanta attorney and ex-public defender, said speaking to government officials about issues under their purview — even if what they’re asking for is wrong, false or without due process — is a protected form of political speech. He compared it to Trump devotees’ chants to “lock up” former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“I think (Trump’s) actually got a pretty strong First Amendment defense there,” Fleischman said.