Trump unexpectedly says he won't seek to move his Georgia election case to federal court – NBC News
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Former President Donald Trump will not seek to move his criminal election interference case in Georgia to federal court, according to a court filing Thursday.
The filing comes weeks after Trump’s attorneys notified Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the case, that he might try to pursue a federal venue.
“This decision is based on his well-founded confidence that this Honorable Court intends to fully and completely protect his constitutional right to a fair trial and guarantee him due process of law throughout the prosecution of his case in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia,” Trump attorney Steven Sadow wrote.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
Trump faces charges related to allegations that he and 18 co-defendants sought to overturn his election loss in Georgia. Some of his co-defendants have sought to move their cases to federal court, which would allow them to make federal defenses to the charges and could offer more favorable jury pools.
All 19 defendants have pleaded not guilty and Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
A federal judge denied Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’ bid to move the Georgia criminal case against him to federal court on Sept. 8, a day after a Trump attorney said the former president might seek a similar move.
A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment on whether Thursday’s court filing by the former president was influenced by the ruling against Meadows.
At a hearing last week, lawyers for former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark pressed to move his case to federal court, arguing that Clark was operating in his official capacity when he prepared a document that falsely claimed the Justice Department had identified “significant concerns” that might have affected the outcome of the election in Georgia and other states.
As Trump’s civil and criminal cases pile up, with one scheduled to go to trial next week and others scheduled to start when the GOP primary season is in full swing next year, he has argued that such trials should be postponed until after the 2024 presidential election.
Zoë Richards is the evening politics reporter for NBC News.
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