- Former President Donald Trump may seek to move his Georgia election interference criminal trial from state court to federal court, his lawyer said in a court filing.
- If he does seek removal, Trump would join several other defendants in the Georgia conspiracy case, including his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
- Trump and 18 other defendants were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury last month on charges related to an alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, which he lost to President Joe Biden.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally for Republican U.S. Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler ahead of their January runoff elections for control of the U.S. Senate in Valdosta, Georgia, on December 5, 2020 .
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump may seek to move his Georgia election interference criminal trial from state court to federal court, his lawyer said in a filing Thursday.
Trump now has a month to file a formal notice of dismissal of the case in federal court in Georgia, his defense attorney Steven Sadow noted in the filing in Fulton County Superior Court.
If he does seek removal, Trump would join several other defendants in the Georgia conspiracy case, including his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
Under the law, a federal official can request that a state case be transferred to federal court if the issues in a case “relate to an action within the scope of that office.”
Trump and 18 other defendants were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury last month on charges related to an alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, which Trump lost to President Joe Biden. All defendants have pleaded not guilty in the case.
CNBC Politics
Read more of CNBC’s political coverage:
A federal trial could give Trump and other defendants an advantage because the jury may have more Republicans than in Fulton County, and he could choose a judge he appointed to the bench as president.
Trump could also potentially claim here that he was immune from prosecution on the federal charges because he was serving as president at the time the alleged crimes were committed.
