Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued a protective order Thursday prohibiting prosecutors and defense attorneys from publicly sharing evidence containing sensitive information in the 2020 presidential election interference case.
McAfee’s protective order will cover witness statements and other evidence that the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and lawyers representing the 19 defendants deem to warrant confidentiality. The order does not apply to evidence that has been publicly presented in other cases or that has been independently acquired by defendants and their counsel.
In Thursday’s court filing, McAfee wrote that his order is more narrowly tailored than a blanket umbrella barring all evidence from coming to light prior to trial. McAfee’s order follows the parameters proposed by former Georgia Republican Party chairman and defendant, David Shafer, that were agreed to by prosecutors and several co-defendants, including Donald Trump, former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, and ex White House Chief-of-Staff Mark Meadows.
Prosecutors are pursuing a felony racketeering case against Trump and 14 of his allies that accuses them of illegally conspiring in Georgia and several other states to overturn the GOP incumbent’s narrow loss to Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Four people indicted in August as part of the racketeering case entered a plea bargain in October.
Under Georgia law, a judge may issue a protective order in felony cases if there is sufficient belief that the public disclosure of information would pose a substantial physical or economic threat to witnesses.
The extensive media coverage of the sweeping election interference case means that evidence that is not kept under seal will be widely reported, McAfee said.
He also expressed concern over how allowing the unfettered ability to share evidence with the public can undermine the…
Read the full article here
