Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark has lost his bid to have his charges in Georgia removed to federal court, reported The Washington Post on Friday.
The decision, made by Judge Steve C. Jones, marks the second time one of former President Donald Trump's co-defendants in the Georgia election racketeering case was defeated in trying to have their case removed. Earlier this month, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows lost a similar bid, although he is currently appealing.
Clark and Meadows both argued that they were acting in their roles as federal government officials when they worked with Trump to challenge the 2020 election result in the state. They said their claim they were working in their official capacities meant it should be heard in federal court.
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Removing the case to federal court would not have eliminated the charges. However, it would have potentially meant the case would be heard by a more conservative judge and the jury pool would have drawn from more conservative areas.
Legal experts considered Clark's measure in particular to be a long shot, because the conduct for which he is being charged — allegedly trying to push Justice Department officials to lean on states to stop the certification of votes in the 2020 presidential election — is not conceivably related to his duties in the Justice Department civil division.
This comes after Trump decided not to seek removal of his own case to federal court, in a move that surprised some political observers who had largely expected him to follow suit.
