Two of the three Georgia Republicans charged as false electors for Donald Trump in the state after the 2020 election were granted September hearings to hear arguments on having their cases moved to federal court.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ordered a Sept. 20 evidentiary hearing for David Shafer and Cathleen Latham, who argued in court filings last week to have their cases removed from state court since they took orders from Trump and federal officials.
A third defendant who also is seeking removal, Shawn Still, has not heard back from the court.
Shafer is a former state GOP chair and Latham is a local GOP official. Still is a sitting state senator.
Shafer, Latham, and Still are among the 16 charged who allegedly served as fake electors in Georgia. Including Trump, there are 19 defendants in the case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Attorneys for Latham said in her filing on Friday that she was acting "at the direction of the President of the United States."
"Mrs. Latham was furthermore acting to assist the President, and was following the advice of the President's legal counsel for the purpose of preserving the challenge to the election results," read her filing.
Shafer and Still put forth similar arguments, all three in an attempt to show that they were performing federal duties for the acts for which they were charged.
Further, attorneys argued that because the three were directed by federal officials, ostensibly to aid in Trump's legal challenges to the Georgia results, that entitles them to immunity from state prosecution under the supremacy clause of the Constitution.
That's also the argument brought forth by former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who took the stand Monday in his bid for his case removal from state court to federal. Meadows testified for three hours.
Jones promised a ruling on Meadows' bid as soon as possible, one that will certainly come before Sept. 20 and could portend how he might rule in the cases of Latham and Shafer.
Latham faces six conspiracy counts and four other charges. Shafer is facing two counts of forgery and three counts of false statements and writings, in addition to one count of criminal intent to file false documents and one count of impersonating a public officer.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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