Judge says Harrison Floyd did contact witnesses despite ruling not to revoke bail

Harrison Floyd, one of the 19 co-defendants in the Fulton County, Georgia racketeering case around the 2020 election, may not have attempted to intimidate witnesses — but it's clear to Judge Scott McAfee that he tried to communicate with them.

Floyd posted social media comments about potential witnesses like Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, and Ruby Freeman over the course of a week. District Attorney Fani Willis asked to revoke his bond for it — which the judge declined after hearing several hours of argument.

Debating the issue, Floyd's attorney argued that social media sites allow the use of "direct messages" if Floyd wanted to directly communicate with someone. However, he said, the use of the @ symbol and the handle or name of the person he was referring to does not constitute talking to them.

The "at" symbol is used on the social media site now known as X to tag someone and ensure they see the communication. Mentioning their name without the symbol would be an example of talking about them without them being aware of it.

While Judge McAfee didn't see enough to meet the level of intimidation or harassment, he did agree that the bail needs to be rewritten after what he called a "technical violation of bond." Not every violation, he said, means bail should be revoked.

The two are coming together again at 5 p.m. EST to hash out the debate over the bail conditions.