OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A legal analyst for CNN is fretting that former President Trump’s Fulton County, Ga., case stands a good chance of being moved to a federal court, which would leave District Attorney Fani Willis embarrassed and without a ‘star’ witness in her post-2020 election racketeering case.
Trump has been charged with 18 others on allegations they colluded to overturn the election results in Georgia, but his legal team is expected to try and get his case moved out of state court and to a federal court, where attorneys are then likely to seek dismissal of the charges under the guise that Trump is immune as he was acting in an official capacity.
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig warned that one main fault with the indictment is that Trump and many of his allies can try to move the trial, which would take the case out of the heavily liberal county in Georgia, though former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ attempt last week was unsuccessful.
“The other big issue – and we just said this word – is removal. Get ready for a lot of talk about removal. Mark Meadows is already trying to do this. Donald Trump will try to follow. In a nutshell, what this means is, if a federal official gets charged with a state crime that relates to that federal official’s official job duties, you can get the case removed.”
Honig argued that such duties must be “within the legitimate scope of those jobs,” adding that is “an important qualification. He [Trump and others] can get the case moved over to federal court and then potentially dismissed. So, these are really important motions. Mark Meadows has already done this, Trump is sure to follow.”
“The hard part [is] it’s a lot of work. You’re not going to be able to try all 19 at once. That’s not going to happen. And you just never know how every one of these defendants, let’s put aside Trump. Every one of these defendants, even the people we heard of, is going to mount a furious defense, as is their right to do,” Honig said.
“They all work together as one cohesive entity towards an illegal end,” Honig said. “You have the advantage to pick off some low-hanging fruit and get them to flip.”
Honig was correct. In a serious blow to the designs of Willis, Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the case, ruled that Trump would not be compelled to stand trial in October alongside co-defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, who put forward a ‘speedy-trial’ motion.
Reports this week noted that McAfee severed both Chesebro and Powell from Trump and the remaining sixteen defendants.
As reported by Analyzing America, the ruling is considered a massive blow to the prosecution of Trump, whose team has now waived any right to a speedy trial motion and furthermore filed several motions to dismiss the charges against the 45th President and Republican 2024 frontrunner.
Kyle Becker, host of the Relentless Podcast, shared ABC News reporting via X, formerly known as Twitter, that featured quotes such as “This is not a good day for the Fulton County DA.”
“Fani Willis wasn’t there, but you got to imagine… she’s throwing things against the wall based on this hearing,” ABC News Executive Editorial Producer John Santucci told audiences.
He added that the ruling is “a great win for Donald Trump and others that did not want to be part of this speedy trial case.”
“I can tell you, sitting here with you, just texting with some of the attorneys involved in the other defendants, celebrating ‘Yay, victory!'” Santucci added.
"This is not a good day for the Fulton County DA."
"Fani Willis wasn't there, but you got to imagine… she's throwing things against the wall based on this hearing."
"A great win for Donald Trump and others that did not want to be part of this speedy trial case."
"I can tell… pic.twitter.com/cfhiw7DpFS
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) September 14, 2023
