Donald Trump will almost certainly try to "remove" his Georgia racketeering case to federal court – and that opening legal gambit just might work, Politico reported Tuesday.
The former president might potentially face a friendlier jury pool or draw a judge he appointed in federal court, rather than take his chances in a Fulton County courtroom, and he will likely argue that the criminal conduct in which he allegedly engaged was undertaken as an officer of the federal government, the report said.
Trump was still president when he and his allies allegedly tried to overturn his 2020 election loss, and the federal "removal statute" generally allows any “officer of the United States” who is charged or sued in state court to move the case to federal court if the case is related to their governmental duties.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
He tried to make that move in New York, where he's charged with falsifying business records related to hush-money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, but U.S. District Court judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected that request and sent the case back to state court because the allegations didn't involve his presidential role.
However, the Georgia charges do implicate his actions to corrupt the federal processes he had authority over, although some legal experts aren't sure the courts will remove his case to the federal level.
“Neither the Constitution nor applicable federal statutes vest the president with any authority or responsibility to interfere with the administration of the Georgia election,” wrote a panel of Brookings Institution attorneys last year.
