{"id":2014749,"date":"2023-08-28T20:04:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T00:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/meadows-hearing-ends-without-ruling-after-hours-of-testimony-in-georgia-rico-case\/"},"modified":"2023-08-28T20:04:58","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T00:04:58","slug":"meadows-hearing-ends-without-ruling-after-hours-of-testimony-in-georgia-rico-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/meadows-hearing-ends-without-ruling-after-hours-of-testimony-in-georgia-rico-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia RICO case hearing in Meadows ends without ruling after lengthy testimony."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmeadows-hearing-ends-without-ruling-after-hours-of-testimony-in-georgia-rico-case%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2014749&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>MARK MEADOWS COURT HEARING IS FIRST BIG TEST FOR FANI WILLIS&#8217;S TRUMP RICO CASE<\/h2>\n<p>Mark Meadows, the co-defendant in \u200bthe case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia, took the witness stand at a hearing on \u200bMonday, making a compelling argument to\u200c a \u200cfederal judge\u200c that the case should be moved from state to \u200cfederal court.\u200d This marked a significant moment in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-ducks-emergency-appeal-in-tennessee-abortion-case\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Ducks Emergency Appeal in Tennessee Abortion Case\">ongoing legal battle<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Meadows,\u200d who served as Trump&#8217;s chief of staff, spent \u2062over three \u200dhours on\u2063 the stand in Atlanta, engaging in a day-long hearing. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, who presided over \u2063the hearing, promised a prompt ruling, acknowledging that Meadows&#8217;s arraignment was scheduled for September 6.<\/p>\n<h3>Seeking Federal Removal<\/h3>\n<p>During the\u200d hearing, Meadows&#8217;s attorneys emphasized his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-judiciary-republicans-fbi-waited-over-a-year-to-fully-investigate-jan-6-pipe-bombs\/\" title=\"House Judiciary Republicans: FBI Waited Over a Year to Fully Investigate Jan. 6 Pipe Bombs\">wide-ranging authority<\/a> in the White House \u200cand contended that his actions related to the 2020 election were carried out in his capacity as a federal official. They\u2064 aimed to\u2064 establish grounds for federal removal.<\/p>\n<p>Meadows \u2064faces two felony charges \u2063brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, accusing him of conspiring to \u2063overturn the results of the 2020\u200d election in Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>His ultimate goal is to\u200b have the charges dismissed under the federal defense\u2064 that his actions were protected by the Constitution&#8217;s supremacy clause. \u200cTo achieve this, Meadows must demonstrate that \u2064the charges brought \u2062by Willis\u2063 pertain to \u2062actions falling \u200dwithin his official\u2062 job \u2064duties.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Willis&#8217;s indictment is precisely the kind\u200d of state interference in a federal official&#8217;s duties that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S.\u2064 Constitution prohibits, and that the removal \u200dstatute \u2062shields against,&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Meadows argued in his\u200c initial removal motion.<\/p>\n<p>Willis responded to the motion, \u200casserting that \u2062Meadows was not acting\u200b as a federal official, as it would\u2064 violate the Hatch\u2063 Act, which requires federal officials to separate their official work from campaign \u200dactivities.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;He\u200c doesn&#8217;t think anything he does can be touched by \u2063the Hatch Act,&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Willis&#8217;s attorneys stated during the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Meadows has been proactive in seeking federal removal, being the first\u2064 of five co-defendants to\u2063 do so. He even \u2063filed an emergency motion \u2064to prevent his imminent arrest, citing his rights\u200c to\u200b removal.<\/p>\n<p>Jones denied the motion, stating that a hearing was necessary for Meadows&#8217;s removal request. Consequently, Meadows surrendered\u2063 himself\u200c to Fulton County Jail but was released on the same day after\u2064 posting a $100,000 bail.<\/p>\n<h3>Trump&#8217;s Potential Move \u2064to Federal Court<\/h3>\n<p>It is anticipated that former President \u200bDonald\u200b Trump, the leading contender for the 2024 GOP nomination, will also\u200d attempt to transfer his case to federal court. \u2063While he would not be able to pardon himself for state charges if reelected, \u2062a trial in federal court would involve jury selection \u200cfrom \u200da\u2063 broader area, potentially less politically biased than Fulton County.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, a federal judge would\u2062 preside over the trial, and\u200b federal courtroom rules would apply,\u2063 likely resulting in a non-televised trial.<\/p>\n<h3>Implications for Other Co-Defendants<\/h3>\n<p>Meadows&#8217;s\u200c hearing \u2063serves as a crucial test for the removal ability of other\u200c co-defendants, particularly Trump and former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, both of whom <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/meadows-hearing-ends-without-ruling-after-hours-of-testimony-in-georgia-rico-case\/\" title=\"Georgia RICO case hearing in Meadows ends without ruling after lengthy testimony.\">previously held federal office<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing has also shed light on Willis&#8217;s broader case against Meadows and\u2064 the others. Willis had subpoenaed\u200c four individuals to appear, including\u2062 Secretary \u2063of \u2063State Brad Raffensperger.<\/p>\n<p>In her\u200d indictment, Willis highlighted Meadows&#8217;s presence on\u200d the phone\u200b call during which Trump asked Raffensperger to find enough votes to\u2064 overturn Georgia&#8217;s election outcome in his favor. Prosecutors repeatedly \u2062questioned Meadows \u2064about his role in setting \u2063up the call regarding voter fraud\u200b concerns.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;I dealt with the president&#8217;s personal position on a number of things. It&#8217;s\u2063 still a \u200bpart of my job to make sure the president is safe\u2062 and secure and able to perform \u200chis job,&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Meadows clarified during the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Willis also subpoenaed Alex Kaufman, Kurt Hilbert, and Frances Watson, who were present on the call, as well as Frances \u2062Watson, the lead investigator \u2062of 2020 matters for the secretary of state&#8217;s office.<\/p>\n<p>Only Raffensperger \u200cand\u2062 Hilbert testified, as indicated by the witness list filed \u200dat the \u2062end of the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Willis&#8217;s indictment included a text allegedly sent by Meadows to Watson, inquiring about \u2062expediting Fulton County signature \u200cverification with\u200c potential financial assistance from the Trump campaign.\u2064 However, Meadows pointed\u2063 out during the\u2064 hearing that the text was actually intended for chief of staff Jordan Fuchs, not Watson.<\/p>\n<p>For \u200bmore details, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\">click here to read more from The Washington Examiner<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mark Meadows, a co-defendant in the Georgia case against ex-President Donald Trump, testified for hours on Monday. He became the first to argue that the case should be moved from state to federal court. Meadows, Trump&#8217;s ex-chief of staff, took the stand during the hearing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2014750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2014749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2014749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2014750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2014749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2014749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2014749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}