The judge presiding over the Georgia election subversion case said Monday he’s unlikely to let Donald Trump’s co-defendants ask potential jurors for their views on the former president’s attempt to “steal the election,” the impact of “political misinformation” on US democracy and the extremism of “MAGA Republicans.”
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee revealed at a hearing Monday that lawyers for the first two defendants going to trial – pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro and former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell – wanted to include these politically charged inquiries in the questionnaire that will be given to potential jurors in the case.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin later this week. A total of 900 prospective jurors have been asked to report to the Fulton County courthouse, including 450 on Friday and the rest next week.
The judge was highly skeptical of the request and pointed out that there are “decades of case law telling us that we’re not supposed to be asking jurors to give their opinion upfront.” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ team also encouraged McAfee to exclude these items from the jury questionnaire.
Chesebro attorney Scott Grubman said the questions were essential to “getting to the true question” of whether the jurors can be “fair and impartial,” instead of simply asking if they can be fair, yes or no.
According to McAfee, the defendants want to ask potential jurors for their feelings about each of the following statements:
- “I think that Trump and his associates tried to steal the election and throw out my vote.”
- “I think the First Amendment should not protect people who spread political misinformation about elections.”
- “I think every single person who is accused of helping Donald Trump try to overturn the election should be…
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