A judge denied Mark Meadows‘ request to transfer his Georgia election subversion case to federal court on Friday, ruling that the former Trump White House chief of staff must face the charges in state court instead.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta, in a 49-page ruling, stated that Meadows failed to meet the low threshold required to move his case to federal court. He emphasized that the crucial question was whether Meadows’ actions were connected to his role as a federal official.
“The evidence presented during the hearing establishes that the actions central to the State’s charges against Meadows were carried out on behalf of the Trump campaign with the ultimate goal of influencing state election activities and procedures,” Jones wrote. “Meadows himself acknowledged that working for the Trump campaign would be beyond the scope of his role as White House Chief of Staff.”
This ruling is an early victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who spent 2 1/2 years investigating and building the case against former President Donald Trump, Meadows, and 17 others under Georgia’s anti-racketeering law. She intends to try all the defendants together.
Trump has suggested that he might request a transfer of his trial to federal court, and some other defendants have already made similar requests. Judge Jones’s decision regarding Meadows may indicate that these requests could face challenges when argued before the judge later this month. However, Jones clarified that he would evaluate each case individually.
Moving to federal court would expand the jury pool beyond heavily Democratic Fulton County and prevent the trial from being photographed or televised since cameras are not allowed in federal courtrooms. Nevertheless, it would not enable Trump, if reelected in 2024, or another president to issue pardons because any conviction would still be based on state law.
Meadows filed a notice of appeal on Friday night. In an earlier court filing this week, he requested a separation of his case from the other defendants and a suspension of his state court proceedings until a final decision is made regarding his attempt to move to federal court, including any appeals.
A spokesperson for Willis declined to provide a comment.
Meadows, Trump, and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges related to an alleged scheme to unlawfully overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia, despite the state’s voters choosing Democrat Joe Biden.
Meadows argued that his actions were part of his duties as chief of staff to the Republican president. He and his legal team also contended that, being a federal official at the time, his charges should be adjudicated in federal court and ultimately dismissed for lack of merit.
Prosecutors asserted that the actions described in the indictment aimed to keep Trump in office after his loss to Biden. They contended that these actions were overtly political and violated the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activity by federal employees. Therefore, they argued that the case should remain in Fulton County Superior Court.
Meadows served as Trump’s fourth and final chief of staff, appointed in March 2020 to replace Mick Mulvaney. Before his tenure as the president’s top aide, Meadows was a congressman representing North Carolina.
Initially elected in 2012 during the post-Tea Party wave, Meadows quickly emerged as a leader among conservative Republicans in Congress. He chaired the right-wing Freedom Caucus, and his actions in the House played a role in Speaker John Boehner’s unexpected retirement.
As Trump rose to prominence in 2016, Meadows shifted his support from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to become a Trump supporter.
Judge Jones emphasized that the evidence “strongly suggests” that most of Meadows’ actions mentioned in the indictment were outside the scope of his executive branch duties.
“Even if Meadows performed tasks similar to his official duties as White House Chief of Staff (such as attending meetings, scheduling phone calls, and managing the President’s time), he failed to demonstrate how the election-related activities forming the basis of the charges in the indictment were related to any of his official duties,” the judge clarified.
He also made it clear that his ruling did not reflect any judgment on the merits of the case against Meadows or any potential defense he might present.
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