Mark Meadows, who served as Chief of Staff in former President Donald Trump’s White House, took the witness stand during a pre-trial hearing in Fulton County, Georgia on Monday. Meadows asked U.S. District Judge Steve Jones that his case be severed from the state-level RICO prosecution against Trump and 18 others brought by District Attorney Fani Willis and instead that it be moved to federal court.
After the hearing, Judge Jones did not rule right away but told Meadows he would try and issue a ruling “as fast as possible.”
The Mark Meadows removal hearing is finally over.
Judge Jones did not issue a ruling from the bench, but said he would try to issue a ruling “as fast as possible.”
Meadows must appear in Fulton County superior court for arraignment if he doesn’t rule by Sept. 6, he said. https://t.co/PBT8keKbde
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) August 28, 2023
The Fulton County District Attorney has charged Meadows with two felony counts – racketeering and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer. It is Meadows’s contention that during former President Trump’s efforts to find evidence of election fraud in Georgia, he was acting in his capacity as a federal officer and is entitled to immunity from prosecution in a state-level court. Four other co-defendants in the sprawling RICO case have asked that Judge Jones move their case to federal court – former President Trump is expected to do the same.
Lisa Rubin, a legal analyst for MSNBC fretted that Meadows’s attempt to get his case moved to federal court could result in him getting “off the hook”:
“He is arguing that because he was a federal officer acting as the direction of the president or in cahoots with the president, it’d be improper or unconstitutional for [Fulton County district attorney] Fani Willis to prosecute him in state court… That’s a vehicle to get rid of the case entirely.”
Moving the venue from a Georgia state court to a federal court could be advantageous for Meadows, Trump, and their co-defendants. The jury pool would be expanded outside the immediate Atlanta area and the case would be overseen by a federal judge. Asking that their cases be severed and moved to federal court by the co-defendants has the added benefit for former President Trump as it slows down the prosecution and could potentially push the trail date in Georgia past the 2024 presidential election.