Trump’s ex-Chief of Staff wants to transfer Georgia indictment to federal court.
Former Trump Chief of Staff Seeks to Move Charges in Georgia Case to Federal Court
Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff for President Donald Trump, is making a bold move in his defense against charges of alleged 2020 election interference in Georgia. He is requesting to transfer the case to federal court, where his legal team plans to seek dismissal.
“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,” an attorney for Mr. Meadows wrote in a filing Tuesday.
Mr. Meadows was one of 19 individuals charged, including President Trump, by a grand jury on Monday under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Among the charges, Mr. Meadows is accused of “unlawfully soliciting, requesting, and importuning” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to violate his oath of office during a phone call about the state’s votes.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced in a press conference following the grand jury’s decision that arrest warrants have been issued, and the defendants have until noon on Aug. 25 to surrender voluntarily.
The Epoch Times reached out to Mr. Meadows’s attorneys for comment.
Acts of Racketeering
“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,” Mr. Meadows’s attorney wrote in the filing. “One would expect a Chief of Staff to the President of the United States to do these sorts of things.”
The indictment (pdf) lists several of Mr. Meadows’s actions as chief of staff as acts of racketeering. These include a meeting with Michigan state legislators in the White House on Nov. 20, 2020, during which President Trump made false statements about fraud in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Michigan. It also mentions a text sent by Mr. Meadows to Rep. Scott Perry (R-Penn.) the next day, requesting contact information for state legislators.
The text read, “Can you send me the number for the speaker and the leader of PA Legislature. POTUS wants to chat with them.”
The indictment claims that this text was “an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.”
Furthermore, it cites a meeting with Pennsylvania state legislators on Nov. 25, 2020, as well as Mr. Meadows’s participation in meetings with political adviser John McEntee in December 2020, during which Mr. McEntee was asked to develop plans to delay Congress’s joint session on Jan. 6, 2021.
Regarding Georgia, the indictment mentions Mr. Meadows’s visit to Cobb County Civic Center on Dec. 22, 2020, in an attempt to observe the signature match audit, but he was prevented from doing so.
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