Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis filed numerous charges against former President Donald Trump earlier this month, piling another indictment onto three previous ones by state and federal prosecutors.
But she may not get to try her case against Trump.
Legal experts have said that Trump’s legal team will most likely push to have his case moved to a federal court, as per current federal statutes, The Epoch Times reported.
“Ms. Willis’ case may face at least one legal hurdle in the form of a federal law that allows individuals who were federal officeholders at the time of an alleged criminal act to have the case go before a federal court,” the report said.
“Mark Meadows, who was also charged in the Georgia case and who was the White House chief of staff at the time, has already filed to have his case moved to federal court, and numerous legal experts have suggested President Trump might do the same,” the report noted further.
“Moving the case from the Fulton County Superior Court to the local federal court could alter the dynamics of the trial and prove advantageous to President Trump in the long run,” the outlet said.
Per legal scholar Paul Kamenar, moving the case to the federal jurisdiction would add an extra layer of intricacy to Willis’ situation. Kamenar noted that the change of venue to a federal court would require two separate trials: one in the state court and another before a federal judge.
Another Trump lawyer, Christina Bobb, said she believes the former president will ultimately file to move the case to a federal court.
“I think they probably will. I mean, that’ll be a decision the trial team makes, but I would expect them to do the same thing. And I would expect it to get removed,” Bobb said. “This case is properly venued in federal court, to the extent it’s proper at all.”
She went on to chastise Willis for indicting Trump on racketeering charges that involve alleged actions in other states and jurisdictions.
“The fact that you’ve got a little district attorney in one county that’s only part of Atlanta, doesn’t even cover the whole city, is bringing claims for racketeering in Arizona and Pennsylvania and Michigan, and she’s just greatly enlarged her jurisdiction by claiming racketeering. I think it’s quite outrageous,” Bobb told The Epoch Times.
She also noted the list of alleged co-conspirators charged by Willis, which include Trump’s lawyers, legal advisers, and even members of the Georgia Republican Party.
“The fact that she specifically indicted the head of the GOP for Georgia, as well as all of the president’s attorneys, she’s effectively turned the Republican Party into a criminal organization, according to her. So she’s blatantly criminalized political opposition,” Bobb said.
