Trump notifies judge he make seek to have Georgia cased moved to federal court

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Donald Trump notified a judge in Georgia on Thursday that he may seek to have his Fulton County case remanded to federal court.

The bid would not be a certain one for the ex-president, but one he would have to mount nonetheless in his effort to seek having the case dismissed on the grounds of involving his official duties as president.

Mr Trump is not the only defendant after this outcome: His former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has sought the same.

Should Mr Trump eventually move to have his trial moved to federal court, the success of that motion could be a strong indicator of the future of his case.

Mr Trump and 18 others are charged with a host of felony counts related to their effort to alter Georgia’s election results after the 2020 election had concluded. The president and his legal team sought first to change the number of votes in his total, then to have Georgia state lawmakers interfere and send a slate of false, Trump-supporting “electors” to Washington in the hopes of casting Georgia’s Electoral College votes for the incumbent president.

Still other co-defendants are charged with a harrassment campaign against two Black women, a mother and her daughter, who volunteered as poll workers during the 2020 election. The pair were subject to racist taunts and violent threats after being target by the Trumpworld conspiracy mill.

In addition to numerous other felony counts, Mr Trump and his compatriots are charged with violating Georgia’s RICO statute, designed to target organised criminal enterprises. Should he or others be convicted of that offence, there is a mandatory minimum prison sentence that must be served.

Mr Trump also remains charged with crimes in three other jurisdictions, including in another case brought by the Department of Justice over his same campaign to change the 2020 election results.

The ex-president has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing in all of the alleged criminal matters brought against him.