A legal professional has cautioned Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis that she might be into a “trap” if she appeals to have a case transferred from state court to federal court.
The warning comes after Mark Meadows, a former White House chief of staff, failed in his initial attempt to have Willis’ charges dropped in federal court. Meadows then filed an appeal with the 11th Circuit Court, which has asked Willis to submit a brief on whether or not federal officials generally qualify for the same immunity that Meadows, a former Republican congressman from North Carolina, is requesting.
Even if Willis prevails in the review, Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, predicts that it will be useless and fleeting.
Kreis posted on the X platform, “I think this is a trap that Fani Willis should not walk into.” “The general consensus has been—and I believe it to be true—that the defendant’s current status is irrelevant; what matters is whether the acts that give rise to the legal action are connected to official duties.”
Kreis stated, “Willis should stop this even though it might result in a loss for Meadows.” First, liberals should reject this terrible form of textualism that conservatives like.
Second, it adds further needless complication and increases the chance that the Supreme Court may revisit the case. Third, theoretically, it doesn’t make much sense. The D’s existing status is immaterial if the purpose of removal is to give government employees and those authorised by federal law a neutral forum to avoid retaliatory proceedings in state court. It concerns safeguarding federal integrity.
Kreis said, “Willis should formally decline the invitation to stall the legal process and invalidate the removal statute.”
According to rumours, former president Donald Trump will also attempt to have his case transferred to a federal court, and some legal experts think he stands a decent chance of succeeding.
Trump and 18 other people have been charged with plotting to rig the Georgia election results. However, Trump’s legal team is expected to try to have the case transferred from state court to federal court, where they will likely ask for the charges to be dropped on the grounds that Trump is exempt from prosecution because he was acting in an official capacity.
Elie Honig, a legal commentator for CNN, cautioned that the charge had a significant issue because Trump and many of his allies could try to move the trial, taking the case out of Georgia’s heavily liberal county, though former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ attempt last week was unsuccessful.