Fani Willis Tells Donald Trump Co-Defendant to 'Shut His Mouth' in Court

Fani Willis told Donald Trump co-defendant Harrison Floyd to "shut his mouth" in court as a judge rejected her motion to jail him over his social media posts.

Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, is leading the criminal racketeering case against Trump in Georgia over his alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. She accused Floyd, a former leader of Black Voices for Trump who is facing three charges accusing him of being involved in a harassment campaign targeting Atlanta election worker Ruby Freeman, of intimidating witnesses through social media posts.

She said Floyd, who has pleaded not guilty, engaged in numerous intentional and flagrant violations of his bond agreement, which was agreed upon in August after he spent five days in jail and bars him from communicating directly or indirectly with or intimidating co-defendants or potential witnesses involved in the case.

"It is unfair to those witnesses," Willis said in court on Tuesday. "And there are real consequences for allowing defendants to intimidate witnesses."

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin reported that Willis also said: "I've stated on the record he can say whatever he'd like on any post he'd like about me. I have no value for what he says."

She continued: "And I'm threatened every day anyway so that he posts and I get threatened some more, that'll be what it is. I've learned to live with that and I am a public official, and voters elected me here, and I've put myself in this position.

"That does not give him the right to contact co-defendants or intimidate other witnesses. And quite frankly, it's really in the defendant's interest to shut his mouth about this case because it can and will be used against him."

Newsweek reached out to Willis on social media for comment.

In one post on X, formerly Twitter, on November 1, that Willis referenced in her motion to revoke his bond, Floyd tagged Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's secretary of state, and Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer in the office, both of whom are witnesses in the case. Floyd appeared to imply they were lying about the case.

In another post on November 6, Floyd tweeted a link to an interview he gave to the Conservative Daily Podcast in which he discussed Jenna Ellis' guilty plea. Ellis is one of Trump's former lawyers and another co-defendant and witness in the case who recently reached a plea deal.

Floyd's lawyers said prosecutors were trying to silence his free speech.

Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Floyd did technically violate his bond, but said his deal should be modified to reflect the "nuances of social media."

"I think the ultimate result of today's hearing is that it's very clear to me that this bond needs to be modified," McAfee said.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 41 counts in the election interference case, including racketeering, violating the oath of a public officer, perjury, forgery, and false statements. He has denied any wrongdoing.

However, three ex-Trump lawyers Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell and Ellis, as well as bail bondsman Scott Hall, have all pleaded guilty and accepted plea deals.