Former US president Donald Trump alerted the Georgia court overseeing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ 2020 election interference case on Thursday that he may seek to remove the case from state to federal court. Trump previously pleaded not guilty to 13 state criminal charges in the same case. Mark Meadows and four of Trump’s co-defendants have already filed similar motions to move their respective charges to federal court as well.
Trump has not yet filed a motion to remove the case from the Georgia state court to a federal court. Rather, the document filed on Thursday provided the court with notice that Trump may file such a motion. For now the case remains before the Superior Court of Fulton County in Georgia.
Under federal law, a motion to remove a case from state to federal court must be filed within 30 days of the defendant’s initial arraignment. In this case, Trump was arraigned on August 31 when he pleaded not guilty to 13 state criminal charges.
In order to successfully remove a case from state to federal court, a criminal defendant must show that their motion is based on valid grounds, which can arise under a number of federal rules. If Trump’s motion for removal is anything like Meadows’, he will likely suggest that the actions contained in Willis’ indictment were undertaken as a part of his official duties as a federal officer—namely, the president of the US. Trump will also have to show that he has a plausible federal defense to the charges, such as federal immunity under the US Constitution’s Supremacy Clause or freedom of speech under the First Amendment.
Trump faces 13 state criminal charges in Willis’ Georgia indictment. The 41-count indictment alleges that Trump and his allies conspired to interfere in Georgia’s election process and certification efforts during the 2020 US presidential election. If Trump were to file and win on his motion to remove the state charges to federal court, only his charges would be removed. The other 18 defendants must individually file and win their own motions to remove if they also want their charges to be heard in a federal court, as opposed to a state court.
Trump’s court filing comes two days after the last remaining co-defendant, Misty Hampton, entered her not guilty plea in a court filing. With her plea in, that means that all 19 defendants have entered not-guilty pleas in Willis’ case. Because all of the defendants have pleaded not guilty, the charges are expected to proceed to trial. While the Georgia judge overseeing the case agreed to begin two of the defendants’ trials—attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro—on October 23, the remaining 17 defendants—including Trump—have yet to receive their trial dates. Willis previously indicated she would like to try all of the defendants together, during the same trial.
Trump currently faces three other criminal cases—two of which are before federal courts. In total, Trump has pleaded not guilty to 91 criminal charges spanning cases before Florida, Washington DC, New York and Georgia courts. He also faces two civil cases, which are based in New York courts.
