Maybe the first domino to fall is actually Mark Meadows. He’s not doing so well, in any event. His motion to remove his case to federal court on the theory that he was a public officer and immune from state charges was denied today. As you may recall, Donald Trump said just yesterday that he “may” argue to have his case moved to federal court, on the same theory as Meadows, that he was a public official at the time that the crimes he allegedly committed took place. However, that theory just got shot down for Meadows, stands to reason that it would for Trump as well. Axios:
Why it matters: U.S. District Judge Steve Jones’ denial scuttles Meadows’ bid to obtain a more favorable jury pool and signals what may be in store for other defendants.
- Meadows was the first of several defendants in the sprawling Georgia case to request his trial be moved out of state court.
- Trump has also been expected to try to move his case to federal court.
Details:Â Jones ruled Meadows did not meet the burden of demonstrating that removal of Georgia’s criminal prosecution against him is proper under the federal officer removal statute.
- Jones also said the Hatch Act was “helpful in defining the outer limits of the scope the White House Chief of Staff’s authority.”
- “Meadows has not shown how his actions relate to the scope of his federal executive branch office,” Jones wrote in the decision.
The big picture: Meadows is charged with violating Georgia’s racketeering law, known as RICO, and soliciting the violation of oath by a public officer as part of a broader effort to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
- Meadows was present during Trump’s Jan. 2021 phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump told Raffensperger to “find” the necessary votes for him to win.
Next, Meadows will try the Nuremburg defense, which is that he was just following orders, just doing his job. I would expect that rationale to have the same success as this one has had, bupkis.
Poor Donald. The sun hasn’t even set yet and he’s had one annoyance, one catastrophe after another. Better take out the phone and process some feelings on Truth Social, I guess. And say, where is Walt, with the Diet Coke? Anybody seen Walt?
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So, by “moving to federal court” do they want to move it to a different state? If not, aren’t there federal courts, or at least one, in Atlanta/Dekalb County? Seems like it is a lose-lose situation since it is entirely possible they’d stay in the same place for trial-jury pool would not effectively change. If perchance it did move from GA, I’m thinking the defense attorneys are not going to be the choosers of where the cases would go anyway so it could end up in a federal court in D.C. which I’m thinking could be an even worse venue. Then again, since I know very, very, little about these things, I could be very silly.
Ursula, you’re an attorney aren’t you? Or at least you’ve studied law-what would/could happen were a change of court approved?
In the movie Constantine, the angel Gabriel is a traitor and trying to help Satan’s son break through the plane from Hell to Earth to reign. Constantine, Keanau Reeves, has been the top exorcist sending legions to Hell, where he has been in a near death experience he brought on from a suicide attempt. In a last ditch effort, he calls forth Satan, who didn’t know about the plot. When Gabriel tries to smote Satan, she is suddenly powerless. As Satan says, “it seems Someone,(God), doesn’t have your back anymore!!! MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY MARK!!!! Not to worry…you’ll have time in prison to catch up on your Bible. Pay attention this damn time Markie!