/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/NMLFAVBO25NTZGRRWPUHWFI6JY.jpg "Analysis: Push by Trump’s allies to delay subversion process in Georgia could cause delays")
A combination image shows police posting mug shots of former US President Donald Trump and 11 of the 18 people charged with him, including Ray Smith, an attorney who previously represented Trump in Georgia, Rudy Giuliani, who served as Trump’s personal attorney, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell Former Georgia Republican Party leader Cathy Latham acquires licensing rights
Aug 25 (Reuters) – Efforts by Donald Trump’s allies to bring the Georgia criminal case against the former US president for attempting to annul an election in federal court raises legal questions that could delay a trial, which is an important part their strategy could be.
On August 28, Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who was charged with the former president on charges of attempted manipulation of the 2020 election results, will argue his case should be tried in federal court rather than the Fulton County Superior Court. where it was deposited.
If Meadows succeeds, he would be tried by a broader jury pool that includes the conservatively hot-tempered Marjorie Taylor Greene of the congressional district, rather than a jury composed solely of Fulton County, which voted nearly 3-1 for Joe Biden in 2020 .
Two other defendants, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and Republican presidential candidate David Shafer, have also filed filings invoking a statute known as the Federal Officer Removal Statute to transfer their cases.
Trump, the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination, is likely to do the same, legal experts say.
A spokesman for the Fulton County District Attorney declined to comment, and attorneys for Meadows, Shafer and Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
The deportation cases are being heard by a federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia and could lead to an appeal if denied, legal experts said.
“The removal request will definitely delay this process and become complicated and messy,” said Eric Segall, a professor at Georgia State College of Law.
The removal issue is just one of many likely to be heard before a trial, adding to uncertainty over prosecutors’ request for a hearing date as early as October 23.
DELAY AS A TACTIC
Trump, who has used delay as a legal tactic in the past, is also trying to move upcoming criminal cases in New York and Washington to other courts. He is also defending a criminal indictment in Miami.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has charged Trump and 18 others with racketeering to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election, which President Joe Biden won. No defendant has entered a plea in the Georgia case.
Willis accused Meadows of promoting a conspiracy, including working with Trump to urge Georgia’s foreign minister to change the number of votes.
The Federal Civil Servants Dismissal Act protects individuals from state prosecution for performing official federal duties.
The law requires a defendant to show that he was a United States official or was acting under the direction of a United States official, that the alleged acts were part of his official duties, and that he has state legal defense.
Meadows argued in federal court documents filed last week that the acts described in the indictment clearly fall within the remit of a chief of staff: assisting the president by arranging meetings and making phone calls.
Prosecutors countered that Meadows engaged in political activity — something federal statutes called the Hatch Act prohibit US government employees from doing. Meadows also said in his court filings that his political activity was protected speech under the US Constitution.
“NOT RELATED” TO OFFICIAL ACTS
The question of removal has already been raised in a criminal case against Trump.
The former president failed to dismiss a Manhattan District Attorney’s case accusing Trump of forging business records to cover up a sex scandal on the eve of the 2016 election.
US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled in July that “hush money paid to an adult film star is unrelated to the official actions of a president” and remanded the case to state court. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and appealed the verdict to the US Second Circuit Circuit.
Legal experts said the alleged acts in the Georgia case were more plausibly related to official duties than the hush money payments in the New York case. If U.S. District Judge Steve Jones agrees in Atlanta, he would next consider whether Meadows has a federal defense.
Meadows argued as a defense that he was immune under the constitution’s supremacy clause, which is similar to the distance act. It states that a person who performs the duties assigned to him by federal law cannot be prosecuted for committing a state crime.
“In other words, if you actually successfully dismiss the case, it’s likely to be dismissed,” said Josh Blackman, a law professor at South Texas College of Law.
However, just because Meadows has a defense doesn’t mean it necessarily applies to the specific acts cited in the indictment.
Legal experts said Jones could allow the case to go to federal court and address immunity at a later hearing. If he finds that the immunity does not apply to the accused acts, the jury trial would take place in federal court with a broader jury pool.
Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Adaptation by Noeleen Walder, Amy Stevens and Stephen Coates
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