Meadows Seeks to Move Georgia Election Case to Federal Court (1)

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows asked an appeals court in Atlanta to transfer state criminal charges against him for election interference to federal court, a move that could prompt other defendants to follow suit and deal a blow to prosecutors.

A panel of judges for the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals expressed skepticism on Friday of arguments made by both lawyers for Meadows and for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who secured the indictment.

It is unclear when the panel will decide.

Meadows, who served as the top aide to former President Donald Trump, is seeking to have his case moved to federal court where he can argue he is immune from state prosecution because his actions related to his job.

“In the context of a removal case, he doesn’t have to answer in response to the state’s charge,” George Terwilliger, the lead lawyer, said during the hearing. “If that were the rule, there would never be a removal case.”

Much of the argument was over the meaning of a statute that lets federal officers remove cases from state court. Chief Judge Bill Pryor acknowledged that the vast majority of cases that have addressed this issue have dealt with current federal officials. But Terwilliger argued that it doesn’t make sense that Congress would intend the statute to exclude former officials.

‘Criminal Enterprise’

Willis charged Meadows, Trump and 17 others in August, accusing them of violating Georgia’s racketeering law by participating in a “criminal enterprise” to keep Trump in office after his loss to Joe Biden was repeatedly verified.

In September US District Judge Steve Jones denied Meadows’ request to transfer the case to federal court. If the appeals court rules for Meadows, it could hobble Willis’ case by prompting other defendants, including Trump, to pursue the same course.

Jones ruled that Meadows’ request hinged on whether a president’s chief of staff can challenge the results of an election as part of the job. The judge said Meadows didn’t have a role to play in Georgia’s presidential election because the US Constitution delegates voting to the states.

Meadows and his lawyers have said the alleged conduct was connected to his position. He told the district court that the actions he took on behalf of Trump were all part of his responsibilities as a White House official, even if they appeared at times to be political.

McDonald Wakeford, a lawyer for Willis’ office, said Meadows was unable to provide a clear explanation for what the scope of his office was when he testified before the district court.

“He expected for the court to rubberstamp his representation on what his job was,” Wakeford said during Friday’s hearing.

The case is Georgia v. Meadows, 23-12958, 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

(Updates with state prosecutor comment in the ninth paragraph.)

To contact the reporters on this story:
Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net;
Sabrina Willmer in Washington at swillmer2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Peter Jeffrey, Elizabeth Wasserman

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