If Harrison Floyd has his way, he might go from the Fulton County jail in Georgia to Capitol Hill.
Floyd, along with former President Donald Trump, is one of 19 co-defendants who were hit with criminal charges by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for their alleged roles in a scheme to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election in the Peach State. On Wednesday night, Floyd was released on a $100,000 bond after five days in jail. Since then, he has gone on a mini media tour decrying the case against him and announcing his intention to run for office.
Shortly after his release, Floyd stood in front of the courthouse and claimed “our country and the state of Georgia” were standing “on pillars of corruption, racism, lying, and cheating.” Floyd, who is Black, accusedWillis, who is also Black, of giving him “what we call in our community a Negro wake up call” and warned that the nation would plunge into “more and deeper darkness” if our leaders do not change course.
“So, the only thing we can do is follow God and lead by example, and so, I’m also announcing right now that I am exploring running for a congressional seat in Georgia,” Floyd said. “I’m coming back here to get things right.”
In a Twitter post on Thursday, Floyd declared:, “Georgia is on my mind” alongside a makeshift “FLOYD ‘24” campaign logo.
Spoiler alert: Floyd doesn’t actually live in Georgia. According to court records, Floyd is currently a resident of Maryland.
This isn’t the first time Floyd has taken a shot at running in Georgia. He previously campaigned for the 7th Congressional District seat in 2019 before dropping out of the race after about a month.
Floyd seems quite eager to join the tradition of Trump allies who have sought to capitalize on legal drama and build careers in conservative politics. Floyd raised money for his bond and legal expenses via a fundraiser on the site GiveSendGo, a “Christian fundraising site” that has been popular with people charged for taking part in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Floyd’s fundraiser, which he has promoted on social media, has drawn in over $200,000 and includes a note filled with a series of incendiary claims from his legal team.
“Harrison Floyd is one of 19 defendants who has been victimized by Fani Willis, a Democrat prosecutor bent on advancing her political career,” the note says, before adding, “Harrison is innocent. There is no victim here in this fake case being brought by Fani. … There’s a lot more to Harrison’s story and we’ll be posting more soon.”
Spokespeople for Willis did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Willis charged Floyd with one count of conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, one count of influencing witnesses, and one count, along with all the other co-defendants, of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
During the 2020 election, Floyd was the executive director of the Trump campaign’s “Black Voices For Trump” initiative. The charges against Floyd stem from his involvement in a desperate scramble to press Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman to admit to false allegations of election fraud that included multiple visits to her home and a cameo from a publicist tied to rapper Kanye West.
Floyd has made multiple appearances within the past day on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s “War Room” broadcast, declaring himself a victim and touting his potential candidacy. In one of his interviews with Bannon on Wednesday afternoon, Floyd suggested the charges were part of an unspecified “cover up.” On Thursday morning, Floyd again appeared with Bannon and stressed the fact he is the only one of the 19 co-defendants who spent time in jail before being released on bond. Floyd claimed he was “absolutely” singled out by Willis as part of an effort to discourage Black people from supporting Trump.
“She wanted to send a message to Black folks,” Floyd said. “I definitely think she was trying to make an example.”
Willis has pushed back on the claims from Floyd and his attorneys that he was unduly held in jail. As part of that effort, the district attorney’s office provided the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper with an audio recording of a conversation between Willis and one of Floyd’s attorneys where she claimed he was offered a consent bond and refused it.
In a separate case in Maryland, Floyd was arrested earlier this year and charged with attempting to assault an FBI agent who was serving him a subpoena as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the attempts to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 race.
One of Floyd’s attorneys, who declined to go on record to discuss the case, said Floyd disputes the allegation he assaulted the FBI agent. The attorney also said Floyd’s defense in Georgia will include revisiting comments Freeman made during her meetings with the co-defendants that were recorded by the police. His legal team also plans to raise questions about the election and the handling of ballots in Georgia as they argue Floyd had reason to believe election fraud had occurred. Freeman has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and noted the conspiracies about her role in the election led to a wave of violent threats against her. The video footage at the center of those conspiracies, which were heavily promoted by Trump and his allies, has been reviewed by officials who confirmed it shows normal ballot processing. Officials — including Georgia’s Republican leadership — have also confirmed there was no fraud in the state’s result, which was checked in two separate recounts.
While Floyd’s legal team has been vocal about the idea he has been mistreated, they appear to be more reticent when it comes to his potential political ambitions. Reached on Thursday afternoon, Aaron McCullough, who is one of Floyd’s attorneys, declined to comment on the possible congressional campaign citing the fact the potential candidate does not currently live in the state where he might run.
“Technically, he’s not even local so that’s just not something that we even need to weigh in on. Those are all kinds of personal stuff,” McCullough said of Floyd, adding, “And so, legal stuff there’s plenty of it going on.”
