Trump says he may seek to move his Georgia criminal case to federal court

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday notified the state judge presiding over his criminal racketeering case in Georgia that he might seek to have the prosecution moved to federal court.

"President Trump hereby notifies the Court that he may seek removal of his prosecution to federal court," Trump attorney Steven Sadow wrote in a court filing. Sadow noted that any such filing "must be filed within 30 days" of Trump's arraignment.

Trump pleaded not guilty to the 13 counts alleging he tried to overturn Georgia's election results and waived arraignment in an Aug. 31 court filing. That gives Trump — who has said he believes all the criminal cases should be postponed until after the 2024 presidential election — until the end of September to make up his mind about how to proceed.

Others in the 19-defendant case have already sought to have the case moved to federal court, where they could claim federal defenses to the charges and draw from a larger pool of jurors.

The case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is set to be heard in Fulton County Superior Court, and the jury pool would be drawn from the heavily Democratic county.

Willis' office declined to comment on the filing.

Among those who have asked that the case be moved are former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official. They contend they were acting in their capacities as federal officials at the time of the alleged conspiracy to keep Trump in office and are entitled to have their proceedings heard in federal court.

If the case is moved to federal court, Trump would also have the opportunity to argue that the charges should be dismissed because his actions, as laid out in the indictment, fell under his duties as president. 

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Willis’ office countered in a filing in Meadows’ case that pressuring state employees to overturn election results is not an official act. “Federal law prohibits employees of the executive branch from engaging in political activity in the course of their work,” they noted.

Willis' office also referred to Trump in the filing, noting that a federal court judge in another jurisdiction had already found that his efforts to stay in power were purely political and not part of his duties as commander-in-chief.

"All of the defendant’s actions here, like the actions of Mr. Trump discussed" in the federal case, “do not relate to [the president’s] duties of faithfully executing the laws, conducting foreign affairs, commanding the armed forces, or managing the Executive Branch. They entirely concern his efforts to remain in office for a second term,” the DA's filing said.

At a hearing on his request last week, Meadows testified that almost everything a president does has political repercussions.

U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones is expected to rule on Meadows' request in the near future.