Attorneys for former President Trump on Thursday filed a motion saying he would not try to move his 2020 Georgia election interference case to federal court, instead agreeing to stand trial in Fulton County.
The new court filing, in which Trump’s attorneys assert that their client has confidence he’ll receive a fair trial in Fulton County, comes as co-defendant Mark Meadows is appealing a decision by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta, who ruled that the former White House Chief of Staff cannot move his case to federal court.
Last month, Trump had issued a court filing suggesting that he “may” attempt to move his case from Fulton County to federal court.
Trump and Meadows are among 19 co-defendants Trump, who were indicted on racketeering and other charges by a grand jury last month related to attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election, following a more than two-year investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Another co-defendant, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, is awaiting a decision by Judge Jones on whether he can move his own case out of Fulton County to federal court, presumably where Clark and Meadows both expect the jury pool would be more politically diverse than in Fulton County, which includes the city of Atlanta, and where their trials would not be televised.
The latest court filing from the Trump team reads, “This decision is based on his well-founded confidence that this Honorable Court intends to fully and completely protect his constitutional right to a fair trial and guarantee him due process of law throughout the prosecution of his case in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia.”
Two other of the 19 co-defendants, former Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sydney Powell, have had their trial severed from the rest and are set to be tried together on October 23.
