Georgia judge to consider whether to jail defendant in Trump election racketeering case over social media posts

A Georgia judge will consider Tuesday afternoon whether one of Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the sprawling election subversion racketeering case should be jailed over recent social media posts and other statements targeting witnesses.

Fulton County prosecutors have asked Judge Scott McAfee to revoke the bond for Harrison Floyd, arguing that he’s violated the terms of the agreement meant to keep him out of jail because of his alleged “effort to intimidate codefendants and witnesses.”

Should McAfee grant the request, Floyd would be the first defendant to be jailed for their actions related to the case – a move that will send a strong message to the other defendants that prosecutors are closely watching their public maneuverings as the criminal case unfolds.

But it wouldn’t be the first time Floyd, who has pleaded not guilty to three state felonies, has been behind bars after being indicted earlier this year. The only defendant to have spent time in jail in connection with the case, Floyd was incarcerated at the Fulton County Jail for one week in August before reaching a bond deal with prosecutors.

The felonies Floyd faces in the case are largely tied to his role in an intimidation campaign targeting two Atlanta election workers in late 2020. Trump and his allies falsely accused the workers of massive voter fraud.

The leader of Black Voices for Trump, Floyd was separately charged in May with simple assault of a federal officer who was delivering a subpoena to him to testify before a grand jury in Washington, DC. He has not entered a plea in that case.

Floyd’s attorneys on Monday pushed back hard against prosecutors’ bid to jail him, telling McAfee that they were doing so out of retaliation after he rejected a plea deal offer. They also draw comparisons to Trump’s public comments about the case, suggesting that prosecutors’ decision to not go after Trump was evidence of a double standard.

“A review of President Trump’s social media posts make the State’s decision to go after Harrison Floyd hard to justify,” Floyd’s attorneys wrote, citing several posts from Trump about Sidney Powell, an attorney who recently pleaded guilty in the case, as well as Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff and current co-defendant.

In their request last week, Fulton County prosecutors highlighted Floyd’s recent social media posts about Georgia election officials who are likely to be called as witnesses in the case, as well as his recent comments on a conservative podcast about Jenna Ellis, who pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate.

“The Defendant’s actions demonstrate that he poses a significant threat of intimidating witnesses and otherwise obstructing the administration of justice in the future, making him ineligible for bond,” they wrote in the court filing.

In one such post from last week, Floyd questions why his team was accused of leaking videos of conversations between another defendant and prosecutors, invoking Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman, who is a witness in the case.

“Why would my team leak Jenna Ellis & proffer videos when there is better stuff? For instance, Ruby Freeman’s job was the reconciliation of ballots,” he wrote. “She wasn’t even supposed to be on a scanner !!!!!!”