Monday’s indictment of Donald Trump in Fulton County, Ga., was just the latest in a long line of legal troubles for the former president. District Attorney Fani Willis announced the charges at a late-night press conference with an intensity that bordered on vehemence.
Willis and Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat have relished their chance to get their man. Labat told reporters that the county would “have mugshots ready” for Trump and presumably the other 18 defendants in the indictment. There’s no doubt that Willis and Labat are milking this indictment for all its worth.
But the Trump team may have an ace up its sleeve. Clark Cunningham, a law professor at Georgia State University, told WSB Radio that Trump could have the case moved from state court to federal court. Cunningham also believes that Trump’s attorneys are likely to do just that.
“One hundred percent,” Cunningham said. “That’s the first thing he’s going to do.”
Trump has the prerogative to move the case from state court to federal court because he’s a former president.
“As a former president, because the acts for which he would be prosecuted took place while he was still president, federal law would allow him to ask for his trial to be moved to federal court, called removal,” Cunningham told WSB.
There are plenty of advantages to changing the venue from state court to federal court, not the least of which is that it would be a genius way to stick it to Willis. She has been so dogged in her attempts to nab Trump that taking her out of the equation would be a thumb in the eye, and don’t think that’s not somewhere in the Trump team’s minds. Additionally, if Trump’s case moves to federal court, all 18 other defendant’s cases will move as well, taking Willis out of the equation in a massive way.
Related: Fulton County DA Fani Willis Speaks to Reporters About Trump Indictment: ‘The Law Is Non-Partisan!’
Another factor in moving the case to federal court is that Trump is more likely to find a sympathetic jury in a federal case than he would in Fulton County, one of the state’s most heavily Democrat locales. “Plus, he might draw a federal judge that he appointed,” WSB adds.
It’s a given that Trump can’t pardon himself from state charges, which could also be a factor for his team. However, there’s no guarantee that a pardon is on the table for federal charges.
“Even if the case were moved to federal court, Cunningham still doesn’t believe he could pardon himself,” WSB reports.
Willis can still fight a motion to move the case to federal court. (Who are we kidding? You know she will.) If she does fight it, that would drag out the case, which flies in the face of her promise of a swift trial.
“If the district attorney wants to fight that, so it’s called, that’s removal, you ask for a remand. That fight will last for months and could easily go up to the U.S. Supreme Court and delay everything,” Cunningham told WSB.
So the plot has thickened in Fulton County, and it’ll be interesting to see if Trump’s team makes this move and what they’ll do next.
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