By
While some of his Georgia co-defendants are pressing for their cases to proceed in federal court, Donald Trump told the state judge overseeing the case that he’s staying put. That means his trial, if and when it happens, will be televised, which wouldn’t happen if it were in federal court.
But is that why the former reality TV host (and former president) made the call? According to a state court filing on Thursday to Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee, Trump's 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.”
Well, OK. But really, what does this mean? At least some of Trump’s 18 co-defendants think there’s value in fleeing state court. His White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, for example, is pressing his removal case on appeal after the federal trial court rejected his claim earlier this month. We’re waiting on that same federal judge to rule on removal efforts by Jeffrey Clark and some of the so-called fake electors who were also charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in the sprawling racketeering indictment.
But what any of them would gain from removal isn’t entirely clear. As I’ve noted:
For any of these removal attempts, it’s important to remember that even successful ones wouldn’t turn a state case into a federal case that a president could pardon. A defendant may get a slightly broader jury pool in federal court than in Fulton County state court, but in the end, it’s unclear how much of a win would be provided by removal.
To be sure, it’s possible that Trump would rather be in federal than state court but has nonetheless weighed the pros and cons of trying for removal and decided against it. His Georgia lawyer, Steve Sadow, is well-experienced and has observed the ongoing federal court removal proceedings of Trump’s co-defendants, so it’s safe to assume there’s been a strategic decision, even if it’s one that isn’t fully captured by the generic explanation to the court on Thursday.
It's also possible that Trump could still wind up in federal court because it’s an open question whether one defendant winning removal could mean the whole case goes federal. Given that Meadows arguably has the strongest case for removal of the 19 racketeering defendants, and he’s in the middle of an appeal over the issue already, even if Trump would prefer federal court, he may have decided it’s better overall to just see if Meadows prevails. Relatedly, Meadows testified in his own removal effort, and Sadow probably wants to keep Trump off the stand if he can help it.
Trump doesn’t have a scheduled trial date in his Georgia case. His first trial of his four current criminal prosecutions is slated for March, in the federal election interference case. Two of his Georgia co-defendants, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, asked for speedy trials and they’re getting one starting next month.
But for now, if and when Trump goes to trial in Georgia, we can tune in.