Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows formally petitioned Tuesday to move the criminal racketeering case brought against him by an Atlanta-area prosecutor over alleged interference in Georgia’s 2020 election from state court into federal court.
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The motion, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, argues that the charges filed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) covers Meadows’s conduct while he was a federal official working as the top aide to then-President Donald Trump.
In the motion, Meadows’s attorneys cite a federal law known as the “removal statute,” which generally allows “any officer … of the United States” who is facing criminal prosecution in state court to move those proceedings to federal court if the case relates to actions that were part of the individual’s duties as a federal official.
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“Mr. Meadows is entitled to remove this action to federal court because the charges against him plausibly give rise to a federal defense based on his role at all relevant times as the White House Chief of Staff to the President of the United States,” Meadows’ attorneys George Terwilliger and Joseph Englert wrote in the Tuesday motion.
A spokesman for Willis declined to comment.
The filing comes one day after a Fulton County grand jury signed off on a sweeping criminal indictment charging Trump and 18 allies, including Meadows, in a broad conspiracy to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.
Meadows, a former North Carolina congressman who served as Trump’s chief of staff in 2020, was indicted on two charges: violation of Georgia’s racketeering act and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.
Among other things, the indictment cited Meadows’ calls and emails to state officials in Georgia and other battleground states as Trump and his associates sought to undermine the legitimate election results. It also cites a surprise December 2020 visit Meadows made to an Atlanta-area facility where state election workers were auditing ballots and his role in arranging Trump’s phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R). In the call, Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” the votes necessary to overturn Biden’s victory in the state.
In the Tuesday filing, Meadows’ attorneys defended their client’s actions, writing that he was merely acting in his “official capacity” as Trump’s chief of staff.
“Nothing Mr. Meadows is alleged in the indictment to have done is criminal per se: arranging Oval Office meetings, contacting state officials on the President’s behalf, visiting a state government building, and setting up a phone call for the President,” Meadows’ attorneys wrote. “One would expect a Chief of Staff to the President of the United States to do these sorts of things.”
They said Meadows planned to file a motion to dismiss the charges at a later date.
Meadows’ petition to move the case to federal court was widely expected — with Trump and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark expected to pursue similar legal motions. If approved, it would allow the case to be heard before a potentially friendlier jury pool made up of residents summoned from Northern Georgia, which is more conservative than heavily Democratic Fulton County.
Trump previously tried a similar legal maneuver in New York, where he’s facing state charges for falsifying business records to shield hush money payments to an adult film actress. A federal judge there rejected the effort and kept the matter in state court, saying the charges there did not involve Trump’s official duties as president.
The move in Georgia came as Atlanta awaited word of who among the 19 people charged in Monday’s indictment would be the first to surrender and post bond in the closely watched case. Willis gave those charged a deadline of noon on Aug. 25 to appear in Atlanta, where they will be fingerprinted and processed. An initial appearance before a judge could come then or in coming weeks.
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The motion, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, argues that the charges filed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) covers Meadows’s conduct while he was a federal official working as the top aide to then-President Donald Trump.
In the motion, Meadows’s attorneys cite a federal law known as the “removal statute,” which generally allows “any officer … of the United States” who is facing criminal prosecution in state court to move those proceedings to federal court if the case relates to actions that were part of the individual’s duties as a federal official.
ADVERTISING
“Mr. Meadows is entitled to remove this action to federal court because the charges against him plausibly give rise to a federal defense based on his role at all relevant times as the White House Chief of Staff to the President of the United States,” Meadows’ attorneys George Terwilliger and Joseph Englert wrote in the Tuesday motion.
A spokesman for Willis declined to comment.
The filing comes one day after a Fulton County grand jury signed off on a sweeping criminal indictment charging Trump and 18 allies, including Meadows, in a broad conspiracy to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.
Meadows, a former North Carolina congressman who served as Trump’s chief of staff in 2020, was indicted on two charges: violation of Georgia’s racketeering act and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.
Among other things, the indictment cited Meadows’ calls and emails to state officials in Georgia and other battleground states as Trump and his associates sought to undermine the legitimate election results. It also cites a surprise December 2020 visit Meadows made to an Atlanta-area facility where state election workers were auditing ballots and his role in arranging Trump’s phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R). In the call, Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” the votes necessary to overturn Biden’s victory in the state.
In the Tuesday filing, Meadows’ attorneys defended their client’s actions, writing that he was merely acting in his “official capacity” as Trump’s chief of staff.
“Nothing Mr. Meadows is alleged in the indictment to have done is criminal per se: arranging Oval Office meetings, contacting state officials on the President’s behalf, visiting a state government building, and setting up a phone call for the President,” Meadows’ attorneys wrote. “One would expect a Chief of Staff to the President of the United States to do these sorts of things.”
They said Meadows planned to file a motion to dismiss the charges at a later date.
Meadows’ petition to move the case to federal court was widely expected — with Trump and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark expected to pursue similar legal motions. If approved, it would allow the case to be heard before a potentially friendlier jury pool made up of residents summoned from Northern Georgia, which is more conservative than heavily Democratic Fulton County.
Trump previously tried a similar legal maneuver in New York, where he’s facing state charges for falsifying business records to shield hush money payments to an adult film actress. A federal judge there rejected the effort and kept the matter in state court, saying the charges there did not involve Trump’s official duties as president.
The move in Georgia came as Atlanta awaited word of who among the 19 people charged in Monday’s indictment would be the first to surrender and post bond in the closely watched case. Willis gave those charged a deadline of noon on Aug. 25 to appear in Atlanta, where they will be fingerprinted and processed. An initial appearance before a judge could come then or in coming weeks.
