Two co-defendants joined Mark Meadows, former Trump White House chief of staff, in attempting to move their charges in the Georgia election case to federal court.
According to The Hill, former Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark and former Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer filed paperwork to have the case transferred.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last week charged former President Donald Trump and 18 others in a massive 41-count indictment stemming from their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Meadows, Clark, and Shafer are the first of the co-defendants to attempt to move the case to federal court, which would be overseen by a federal judge and would pull from a jury pool that is potentially politically balanced. Meadows filed his notice of removal last week.
They argue that their charges must be moved to federal court because they are connected to their roles as federal officials and they will employ federal defenses, including arguments related to immunity and the First Amendment.
"He was a high-ranking U.S. Justice Department official at all relevant times applicable to the Fulton County Action and the allegations therein relate directly to his work at the Justice Department as well as with the former President of the United States," Clark's lawyer Harry MacDougald wrote, according to The Hill.
Clark also reportedly contended that the entire case, not just his charges, must be transferred to federal court based on relevant precedent and also is seeking to move the special grand jury proceedings.
Clark suggested that the state criminal proceedings should be automatically paused by adding the special grand jury to the removal notice. Clark's attorney said he will seek emergency relief to prevent the state from seeking his arrest.
"The Fulton County Action took advantage of civil proceedings to augment the powers of an ordinary grand jury in Georgia with the powers of a special purpose grand jury," Clark's attorney wrote, according to The Hill. "This voluntary choice by the State requires the State to take the bitter with the sweet, for the State cannot work such a fusion of civil and criminal powers and thereafter deny the impact of using those civil powers as a launchpad for this case."
Shafer's attorneys wrote that the charges against him stem "directly from his service as a Presidential Elector nominee acting under the authority of the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act."
Willis has given the co-defendants until Friday to voluntarily surrender or face arrest. Bail bondsman Scott Hall surrendered to authorities on Tuesday, becoming the first co-defendant to do so. Conservative lawyer John Eastman also turned himself in Tuesday. Trump said he plans to surrender on Thursday.
Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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