A decide allowed Harrison Floyd, former President Donald Trump’s co-defendant, to stay free on bail Tuesday after a high-profile prosecutor accused him of posting tweets that violated the phrases of his launch in Georgia’s sprawling election subversion case.

As an alternative of sending him to jail, Fulton County Superior Court docket Decide Scott McAfee ordered prosecutors and the protection to amend a bond settlement that permits Mr. Floyd to stay free awaiting trial.

Mr. Floyd apparently didn’t attempt to intimidate anybody in a collection of posts on X that talked about potential witnesses and his case, in keeping with the decide.

“There have been no basic restrictions on speaking about this case,” Decide McAfee mentioned.

The decide mentioned there had been a “technical violation” of the order stating that Mr Floyd couldn’t talk with witnesses, however the order didn’t seize the nuances of social media, the place witnesses are tagged in posts.

Mr. Floyd, who served as director of Black Voices for Trump, is known as within the indictment charging Mr. Trump and 18 different defendants with conspiring to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election in Georgia.

The indictment accuses Mr. Floyd of harassing Ruby Freeman, an election employee whom Mr. Trump’s supporters falsely accused of fraud. Prosecutors allege that Mr. Floyd advised Ms. Freeman that she “wanted safety” and urged her to say false issues about election fraud.

Fulton County District Lawyer Fanny Willis, a Democrat, appeared in courtroom herself as an alternative of sending a deputy district legal professional, as she had executed in earlier hearings associated to the case.

She mentioned Mr Floyd had violated the phrases of his bond by way of his social media posts. One publish refers to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his high aide Gabe Sterling as “items of (poo emoji).”

Each state officers are potential witnesses within the case, so Ms. Willis mentioned Mr. Floyd’s actions violated the phrases of his bail. Different social media posts weighed in on Ms. Freeman and the investigation, together with a tweet that tagged legal professional Jenna Ellis — a co-defendant and potential witness who pleaded responsible within the case.

“He clearly breached the phrases,” Ms Willis mentioned.

The courtroom argued at size about whether or not Mr. Floyd’s message amounted to direct or oblique communication.

Mr. Sterling testified about how his title was tagged within the messages, in order that he appeared in a feed of things that talked about him. The state was making an attempt to show that witnesses noticed the posts and insults in query.

“Do you get pleasure from being known as a bit of poo?” mentioned Mrs. Willis.

“No, ma’am,” mentioned Mr. Sterling.

Protection legal professionals responded in cross-examination by declaring that Mr. Sterling is a public determine and infrequently faces insults, so the tweets shouldn’t be construed as threats. Mr Sterling admitted he was par for the course.

Vaughn DuBose, Ms. Freeman’s lawyer, testified that he noticed a spike in potential on-line threats after Mr. Floyd’s tweets.

The protection famous that Ms. Freeman didn’t really feel the necessity to contact police, and mentioned Ms. Willis ought to have reached out or marked the tweets as objectionable earlier than transferring to revoke her bail.

Ms. Willis mentioned any up to date order must be designed to guard Ms. Freeman, specifically, and stop Mr. Floyd from directing posts at her.

Different occasions, protection legal professionals mentioned prosecutors had the burden of proving that Mr. Floyd truly posted the tweets.

Michael Hill, an investigator in Ms. Willis’s workplace, mentioned X’s biographical data matched Mr. Floyd’s, and investigators had beforehand seen reside photographs on the account that matched Mr. Floyd.

The controversy over Mr. Floyd’s tweets erupted at a pivotal time for Mr. Trump, who’s the Republican Social gathering’s front-runner within the 2024 presidential race. Mr. Trump regularly assaults prosecutors and judges concerned in his authorized issues, and objects to gag orders that restrict what he can say about circumstances. Publicly or on social media.

Mr. Trump says the Georgia case towards him and his allies is a part of a broader try to thwart his 2024 presidential marketing campaign.

4 co-defendants, together with lead legal professionals concerned within the effort to overturn the 2020 outcomes, pleaded responsible and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.