Judge Scott McAfee presides over a hearing for Harrison Floyd at the Fulton County Courthouse, November 3, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Christian Monterrosa | Getty Images
A Georgia judge said Wednesday he will issue a protective order barring the public release of evidence exchanged between prosecutors and lawyers representing former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants in their election interference criminal cases in that state.
“Until we decide what’s going to be relevant and admissible, this case should be tried and not in the court of public opinion,” said Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee at a hearing on the proposed order.
The order was sought by prosecutors, and agreed to by most of the defense teams on Wednesday, after the recent leak to a media outlet of videos containing confidential interviews two co-defendants, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, gave prosecutors as part of their agreements to plead guilty.
At Wednesday’s hearing, the attorney Jonathan Miller, who is representing the defendant Misty Hampton, told McAfee that he gave the videos to “one media outlet.”
Miller said the public had the right to know what Ellis and Powell had told the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, arguing that the statements they made “help my client.”
Tom Clyde, a lawyer for a group of media companies, argued against the protective order, saying it was not justified by Georgia law.
Clyde said that a key issue in the case — the legitimacy of the 2020 election — is “extremely significant in public importance,” and that evidence related to it should not be subject to an order automatically barring its release to the public.
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