JUST IN: Trump Attorney Mulling Bold Move That Could Change Everything In Fulton Case

In a move that could alter the trajectory of the Fulton County case against former President Donald Trump, his attorney has now hinted at a potential move to transfer the case to federal court.

A document was filed with Judge Scott McAfee’s office Thursday indicating that Trump might seek the removal of his prosecution to a federal court.

Trump’s lead counsel, Steven H. Sadow, stated that the former president has until 30 days post his arraignment to file an official notice of removal. Given that Trump pleaded not guilty on August 31, 2023, the countdown has already begun.

While the move isn’t entirely unexpected, it does add another layer of complexity to the case. Trump would likely face a more favorable jury pool in federal court. This is the same strategy being pursued by Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and four other defendants, who are citing their roles as federal officials or those working under them.

Many have emphasized the word “may” in the document, suggesting that while the possibility is on the table, it’s not a definitive decision yet. The potential shift to federal court is significant, given that Trump was acting in his capacity as a federal official, specifically as the President of the United States, during the events in question.

As MSNBC pointed out, the path forward remains uncertain. The judge in the case has expressed skepticism about District Attorney Fani Willis’ plan to try all 19 defendants simultaneously. This, combined with various motions from different defendants, including the potential move to federal court by Trump, complicates the timeline and logistics of the trial.

BREAKING: Former President Donald Trump has just informed the judge in the Georgia election interference case that he might attempt to transfer the state case to federal court, potentially using federal official immunity protections to have the charges dropped. pic.twitter.com/qsPUKvNY2H

— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) September 7, 2023

Other defendants, like Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, are pushing for a speedy trial, adding to the myriad of motions and requests that the court must navigate.

According to the Atlanta Journal, several of the 19 defendants in the Georgia election subversion case believe that the U.S. District Court may offer a more favorable environment for their claims of federal immunity. Additionally, they anticipate a wider, somewhat more politically right-leaning jury pool in this venue.

AJC wrote:

“In Fulton County, Trump won less than 27% of the vote in 2020. A federal case would pull from a 10-county division made up of Atlanta and its suburbs. There, Trump won a little more than 33% of the vote, according to an analysis of 2020 voting data by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In rare instances, jurors may be culled from an entire federal judicial district. That happened in the 2021 hate crimes trial of three men convicted of killing of Ahmaud Arbery. Due to intense publicity, jurors were selected from the entire Southern District of Georgia, a federal jurisdiction composed of 43 counties. The move was supported by the prosecution and the defense.

In the 46 counties that make up the whole Northern District of Georgia, Trump earned 46% of the 2020 vote, the AJC found.

During a trial, juries must be unanimous to convict a person of a crime. Adding jurors from more Trump-friendly areas increases the likelihood that there could be more holdouts, given Trump’s deep popularity among many conservatives.”

The Fulton case against former President Trump continues to be fraught with a wide range of twists and turns.