Aug. 28 (UPI) — Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows will appear in an Atlanta courtroom Monday to ask a judge to move his case for alleged election interference from a state court to federal court.
The hearing before U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones was one of several that Meadows faces as defense attorneys argue for his immunity in the case, claiming he was a federal official acting on direct orders from then-President Donald Trump when he allegedly aided a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
At the hearing, District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to lay out the charges against Meadows, who surrendered in Atlanta last week after another judge rejected his request to block his arrest if he failed to turn himself in.
A total of 19 defendants, including Trump, are charged under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, and many of the accused face multiple counts, including conspiracy to defraud the state, forgery, criminal attempt to file false documents, false statements and writings, and conspiracy to commit election fraud.
Ahead of Monday’s hearing, prosecutors subpoenaed four witnesses — including a former chief investigator for the Georgia secretary of state’s office and two attorneys connected to Trump — who may testify in what could be the curtain-raiser to a potential trial and provide deeper insight into Meadows’ actions following the 2020 election.
Meadows is charged with soliciting an official to violate their oath of office because of his presence on the infamous “find” votes call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Meadows is also accused of violating the federal Hatch Act, which prohibits officials from using their government status to influence an election.
But Meadows’ attorneys have indicated they will file a motion asking the judge to dismiss the charges if they win on the motion filed last Tuesday to move his case from Fulton County Superior Court to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
“Mr. Meadows has the right to remove this matter. The conduct giving rise to the charges in the indictment all occurred during his tenure and as part of his service as Chief of Staff,” his filing reads.
But in court papers filed last week, prosecutors argued Meadows was not performing his White House duties at the time but working for Trump’s political campaign, which fell “outside the lawful scope of his authority as Chief of Staff.”
In order for the motion to be granted, the judge will have to agree that Meadows was acting in his official capacity when he allegedly participated in Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Either ruling in the case holds broad implications in separate pre-trial hearings for the other accused as at least four more co-defendants were seeking federal intervention.
They include former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark; former Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer; Georgia State Sen. Shawn Still, who served as a fake elector along with Cathy Latham, former chairwoman of the Republican Party in Coffee County, Ga., who faces a dozen charges related to her role in the alleged scheme.
Legal experts said Meadows and the others stood to gain leniency and a more favorable jury if their cases went to trial at the federal level.
The wide-ranging indictment comes more than two years after a violent mob stormed Congress to disrupt certification of Joe Biden’s election win and keep Trump in office after he lost the vote but falsely claimed the process was rigged.
