Fani Willis, the prosecutor overseeing the Georgia election racketeering case, on Tuesday slammed fake elector Shawn Still's motion for removal of his case to federal court.
Still, now a freshman in Georgia's Senate, was one of 16 Georgia Republicans who prosecutors allege falsely certified themselves as "duly elected and qualified" electors during efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Still's indictment is part of Willis' far-reaching racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 18 associates.
In court filings advocating for his case's transfer to federal court, Still's attorneys argued that he "was, or was acting under, an officer of the United States" — specifically "acting at the direction of the incumbent President of the United States" — and thus satisfied the first requirement for case removal. Willis, however, smacked down that argument in a 27-page response seeking to remand Still in state court.
Still filed his removal motion "based on the improbable theory that he—a private citizen with no federal role, acting at the direction of the losing Trump presidential campaign—is entitled to removal as a 'federal official,'" Willis wrote in the filing. "Yet he fails to clear even the initial hurdle—establishing that he at any time met the definition of 'federal official.' Defendant and his fellow fraudulent electors conspired in a scheme to impersonate true Georgia presidential electors; their fiction is not entitled to recognition by this Court," she continued.
Willis went on to address the other requirements for a case to be removed, arguing that Still's involvement in the charged crimes are not within the scope of any federal office. Thus, she asserted, the Georgia senator does not have any applicable "colorable federal defense."
