Alina Habba, attorney for former President Donald Trump and general counsel for the Save America PAC, says the Georgia charges belong in federal court.
She told Newsmax on Wednesday morning that this was all “by design,” and that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “did it on purpose so that if he is president, he can’t pardon himself if he’s convicted. … We will probably be asking for a removal to another venue and to move it to federal court.”
Unlike the president’s three former indictments, this fourth indictment was handed up in a state court.
Ms. Habba had made a Tuesday appearance on the show as well, saying the case did not belong in a state court in the first place.
“It should be moved to a federal court. Election claims and claims of somebody who was a president at the time should be viewed by a federal court. There’s presidential immunities at play here and this has no business being in a state court,” she said.
Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to President Trump, was the first of the 19 defendants to file a motion to remove the case to federal court. Others are expected to do the same.
Lindsey Halligan, attorney to President Trump, was on Newsmax on Tuesday to say that President Trump’s legal team is indeed planning to file a motion to remove the case to federal court.
“This case should be removed, this indictment is exactly the type of state interference in a federal official’s duty that the supremacy clause in the United States Constitution prohibits,” she said, without specifying when they would do so.
On Monday, President Trump and 18 others were charged under the RICO statute with 161 acts of racketeering (pdf) that included, for many, carrying out their official duties as aides or attorneys to the president.
“If the case is removed to federal court there will not be cameras in the courtroom. Ms. Willis seems to want this case to be televised. I’m sure she’s very proud of herself, but let’s remember how easy it is to indict someone. This indictment does not mean a conviction. It’s not a crime to contest an election,” Ms. Halligan added, accusing the prosecutor of exercising “artistic license” in her application of the law.
