Trump RICO co-defendant Floyd to remain free after prosecutors sought to revoke bond

WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT HEARS ORAL ARGUMENTS IN HIGH-STAKES REDISTRICTING CASE

Dennis Byron/AP

“I do think that in several instances here, there has been a technical violation of Mr. Floyd’s bond, and communications he made wound up before the eyes and ears of potential witnesses and defendants,” McAfee said.

“But not every violation compels revocation,” McAfee concluded, adding he would allow both parties to make recommendations about modifications to the bond agreement.

In a warning to deter future violation complaints, McAfee noted that “nothing from today’s hearing should be seen as curtailing the state’s ability to refile such a bond revocation motion immediately upon an additional violation.”

Willis made a heated appeal to McAfee, at times shouting passionately that Floyd “violated his bond order,” which allows him to remain free while the case proceeds. She argued that Floyd had violated “three of the seven conditions of that bond.”

“Defendant Floyd violated his bond and it should be revoked,” Willis said toward the end of the hearing.

Floyd is the leader of Black Voices for Trump and was charged alongside the former president in the sweeping racketeering case. In addition to the state racketeering charge, he faces two felonies for his role in what the indictment described as a scheme to intimidate Ruby Freeman, a former Georgia election worker who Willis says was pressured by Floyd to claim that she committed electoral fraud.

The crux of Willis’s accusation in the bond hearing surrounded social media posts Floyd made that were directed at Freeman.

“There’s no denial that as a result of his conduct a witness was put in greater harm and greater hate was again spewed against someone that’s had to go through this for three years,” Willis added, referring to his recent social media posts that called out Freeman.

In a recent post by Floyd to X, formerly known as Twitter, Floyd said, “Does this sound like Ruby Freeman is being PRESSURED?” The post included an audio clip of Freeman that was said to be recorded by a police body camera in 2020.

Willis also gave a virtual presentation depicting a text message from Jenna Ellis, a co-defendant in the case who recently pleaded guilty to lesser charges in a plea deal with Willis. In the text, Ellis alleged Floyd’s posts referencing her were intended to “both intimidate and harass me and also encourage others to harass me.”

Attorneys for Floyd included Chris Kachouroff, who argued Willis was seeking to silence Floyd’s free and political speech. Floyd was also present at the hearing.

Just before McAfee’s order, Kachouroff conceded that his client would be amicable to adding more specific language to his bond agreement that would dictate what is and isn’t permissible rhetoric.

“If the court tells him, ‘Look, I want you to tone it down. I don’t want you to mention Ruby Freeman.’ He’ll do what you tell him to do,” Kachouroff told the judge, adding that he viewed Willis’s motion as “somewhat of a retaliation.”

Prosecutors also argued that Floyd’s tagging of witnesses like Ellis on X violated his bond agreement, arguing the defense “know it’s communication” with a witness. Conversely, Kachouroff argued the action of tagging someone in a post wasn’t an act of direct communication in the same way that a direct message would and that tagging amounted to a “reference” of a witness.

Kachouroff told the Washington Examiner that “this is what happens when a prosecutor is raised by a Black Panther,” referring to Willis’s father, who was at one point the chairman of the Black Panther Political Party in the late 1960s.

Floyd is just one of 19 defendants who, alongside Trump, were named in a 97-page racketeering indictment in August. The indictment charges Trump and his co-defendants with forming a “criminal enterprise” to undo the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. Four of the defendants have pleaded guilty and vowed to become witnesses for prosecutors. Trump and the remaining 14 defendants maintain their innocence.

The pro-Trump group leader was also the only defendant in the case to be denied bond for one week after he was arraigned in August. A separate judge deemed he was a “risk to commit additional felonies,” as Floyd is also facing separate charges over an alleged assault of an FBI officer in Maryland, where he lives.

After the hearing, the court authorized an amended copy of Floyd’s bond conditions that included a lengthy paragraph detailing exactly how Floyd cannot engage with witnesses in the case.

“This shall include but is not limited to ‘mentioning’ (e.g., @(username)), referencing, tagging, direct messaging, following or subscribing to, liking posts by another user that would violate this order if posted by the Defendant, commenting on or replying to posts by another user that would violate this order if posted by the Defendant, and reposting posts by another user that would violate this order if posted by the Defendant,” the court said, according to a copy of the amended conditions obtained by the Washington Examiner.

McAfee could still alter some aspects of the agreement, but such terms are in place for now.

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While Floyd is facing scrutiny over his adherence to bond conditions, Trump is also asserting his First Amendment rights against various gag orders in his separate criminal and civil court proceedings. The former president is pending appellate review of his gag orders in the election interference case by special counsel Jack Smith and his civil business fraud lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James.

McAfee is currently mulling Willis’s request for an Aug. 5 trial start for the remaining defendants, three months before the 2024 general election between the likely GOP nominee, Trump, and President Joe Biden.