EARLIER this week, former US President Donald Trump’s attorneys formally notified a local judge of the possibility that Trump may seek to have his Georgia election interference case moved from a state court to a federal court.
So far, 5 of Trump’s co-defendants have already made a similar request including Trump’s then chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Department of Justice Official Jeffrey Clark, former Coffee County GOP Chair Cathy Latham, Current Georgia State Senator Shawn Still, and former Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer.
On Friday, US District Judge Steve Jones denied Meadow’s request which he filed on August 15.
Moving the case to a federal court would likely block it from being televised as it will be in Georgia.
The latest development comes after new details from the Georgia special grand jury investigation that sparked those charges were recently released by a different judge.
The newly-unsealed report recommended the Fulton County District Attorney indict 39 people but Fani Willis only brought charges against 19.
So far, reports say Willis’ spokesperson has denied commenting on the matter.
Activists, legal scholars looking to invoke 14th amendment to block Trump’s 2024 presidential bid–reports
On the other hand, activists and legal scholars are looking to a provision in the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution to block Trump from holding public office again.
Section 3 of the said amendment disqualifies people who took an oath to support the constitution but then ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same’ or gave ‘aid or comfort to the enemies’ of the state.
Should Trump be convicted of insurrection-related charges, he would by this theory be disqualified from holding public office again.
However, legal experts say the issue invoking the 14th amendment offers no explicit guidelines on what exactly constitutes an insurrection, adding that Trump hasn’t been charged with engaging in insurrection as prosecutors decided not to charge him with that, therefore he would not qualify under this provision.
