Would A Free Speech Defense Work For Donald Trump In Court?

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Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to criminal charges related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. And a member of his legal team told NPR that Trump plans to invoke the right to freedom of speech as part of his defense.

To learn how a free speech defense would work for the former president in court, we hear from Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, a professor at Stetson University's College of Law in Florida.

And former acting solicitor general of the United States, Neal Katyal, tells us about Tanya Chutkan, the U.S. district judge assigned to Trump's case.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

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This episode was produced by Brianna Scott, Elena Burnett and Gurjit Kaur with engineering from Stu Rushfield. It was edited by Tinbete Ermyas, Patrick Jarenwattananon and William Troop. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.