CNN
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Former President Donald Trump Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis will not seek to transfer the criminal charges against her to federal court, her attorneys said in a statement. filed in court Thursday.
The move comes as a surprise, as Trump had largely been expected to try to move the Georgia case as part of an effort to win immunity for federal officials. Under federal law, criminal cases can be removed to federal court if the alleged conduct is related to their government duties.
His lawyers As stated earlier Judge Scott McAfee Trump may try to transfer the case to the federal system. Outside court, the former president’s representatives have been very outspoken in signaling their desire to try to move the case along.
The deadline for Trump to make formal requests is Friday.
“This decision is based on his well-founded belief that this Honorable Court wishes to fully and completely protect his constitutional right to a fair trial and to guarantee due process of law throughout the trial of his case in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia,” Trump attorney Steven Sado filed Thursday.
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Rejected Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, tried earlier this month to move the case to federal court. Meadows is appealing that decision. Other defendants in the case also asked to have their cases transferred from state to federal court.
Sato attended some of the federal court hearings where some of Trump’s co-defendants argued in favor of moving their cases, and the judge was skeptical of many of their arguments.
This story has been updated with additional details.
