Former President Donald Trump's possible request to move his Georgia criminal case to federal court "should go through," constitutional legal expert Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax on Friday.
Trump and 18 co-defendants are facing charges they allegedly tried to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
The former president on Thursday formally notified the judge overseeing the Georgia election case that he "may" try to move his state case into federal court.
"It should go through," Dershowitz told "Newsline" host Bianca de la Garza of the move to federal court. "The law permits transferring cases to federal court if the person indicted was indicted for crimes committed while a federal official as part of his duties as a federal official.
"The issue will be whether or not these crimes, particularly the ones in Fulton County, were done as part of his role as president or were done outside of the role as president. The federal judge will make the first determination of that and that will be subject perhaps to appeal."
The Georgia criminal case is the fourth involving Trump, who's also facing charges concerning his alleged actions during the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack; his alleged mishandling of classified documents; and his purported hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
During a radio interview on Wednesday, Trump said that he would be willing to testify in his own defense at the classified documents trial in Florida.
"I would certainly allow him to say he wants to take the stand," Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, told de la Garza. "The decision should be made at the very last minute after the prosecution's case has been put forward, after the judge has made rulings as to what kinds of questions should be allowed on cross examination. It's not a decision you make before trial.
"Most defense attorneys, presumptively, don't put the witnesses on the stand. But then things changed in the middle of the trial, and you have to be flexible and ready."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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