Ex-Trump official Mark Meadows demands Fulton County charges be moved to federal court

August 16, 2023

Mark Meadows on Tuesday demanded that the two charges leveled against him in Fulton County, Georgia, be moved to federal court — arguing that he was acting within the scope of his authority as a “federal official” when he engaged in the actions cited in the indictment against former President Donald Trump and 18 others.

“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 wrote in a Tuesday filing in the Northern District of Georgia.

“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. One would expect a Chief of Staff to the President of the United States to do these sorts of things,” the filing states.

Attorneys for Mark Meadows wrote in a filing that he is entitled to remove this action to federal court.

“This is precisely the kind of state interference in a federal official’s duties that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits.”

The former Trump administration official seeks to have his case heard in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, rather than Fulton County, where he will attempt to have the two charges against him dismissed.

“Mr. Meadows intends to file a motion to dismiss the indictment pursuant to Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure as soon as is feasible,” the filing states.

Mark Meadows is seeking to have his case heard in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, rather than Fulton County.

“At a minimum, in the meantime, federal law requires granting removal, which will halt the state-court proceedings against Mr. Meadows,” the former White House chief of staff’s lawyers write.

A Fulton County grand jury on Monday voted in favor of indicting Meadows on charges stemming from a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call by Trump, 77, to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to try to reverse the state’s election results, after a Dec. 23 call by Trump to Frances Watson, chief investigator for the Georgia secretary of state, to do the same thing.

Meadows, 64, faces charges under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, along with Trump and 17 other co-defendants.