The panel at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied Mark Meadows’ attempt to move his Georgia trial from state to federal court. I saw a short mention of this on MSNBC a little while ago and with the news so fresh there’s little from print outlets. There is a short piece from The Hill on this developing story.
Meadows, along with Trump and others face RICO charges in Fulton County Georgia over attempts to interfere with that state’s certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 Presidential election in Georgia and being awarded its electoral votes. Trump has no doubt been considering the same move but let Meadows take the lead to see if it might work. The idea behind shifting to federal court is a different venue, with a larger and more Trump friendly jury pool.
Meadows’ initial attempt to move the case to federal court was denied by the District Court judge that heard it. Meadows took the stand and most legal pundits said he did himself (and Trump) more harm than good. Meadows is desperate and it’s not surprising he appealed. Oral arguments finally took place and the three judge panel seemed skeptical according to news reports. It seems the pundits were justified:
In a swift ruling issued just three days after oral arguments on the matter, the three-judge panel ruled that former federal officials — as opposed to current ones — are ineligible to move their charges.
Ouch! That’s a remarkably swift ruling. From where I sit it’s ominous beyond the narrow confines of the GA case. With the exception of federal judge Aileen “Loose” Cannon down in FL federal judges including appellate ones have grown both wise to and tired of Trump’s delaying tactics. Consider how swiftly SCOTUS has moved on Trump DC case appeal, as has the DC Court of Appeals. By normal standards both are moving swiftly in demanding Trump/his lawyers respond to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request for an expedited ruling on Trump’s Presidential Immunity claim. It’s worth noting there is widespread skepticism with pundits Trump will win that one too.
What matters is this: I could be wrong (sure as hell wouldn’t be the first time) but the federal judiciary including SCOTUS has had their fill of Trump. Over and over he’s lost his never ending string of one appeal after another and they are tired of wasting time on Trump crap. I wrote recently the momentous case Bush v Gore was heard by SCOTUS and a ruling issued in one day! The federal courts can in fact move swiftly when they want to. Things with Trump apparently have fallen into “want to” territory. And make no mistake, Trump was having Meadows float a trial balloon on his behalf every bit as much as Meadows is desperate on his own.
As I said this is breaking and there will be plenty more to come. Meadows might try asking the appeals court to sit en banc (the entire set of judges instead of the standard three judge panel that hears almost every appeal around the country) but it’s pretty clear that won’t make a difference. However I think it’s safe to say even if that happens it will be heard and ruled on (as in get that weak sh*t outa here and don’t bother us again!) swiftly. By swiftly I mean before the end of January.
Stay tuned. There will be lots more on this in the hours ahead.
Their decision makes perfect sense to me. He is being charged with breaking a state law. That case belongs in state court to my thinking. The transgression occurred in the state of Georgia and truly was not in his scope of responsibilities.
AP is reporting it.
Hey Mark…being the devout ‘christian’ you claim to be…did you EVER read the gospels??? Jesus didn’t condemn the lepers, the Samaritans, the Romans, the outcasts, the adultress, or the poor. HE CONDEMNED RELIGIOUS HYPOCRITES LIKE YOU AND THE CHRISTO-FASCISTS!!! No worries. You’ll have plenty of alone time to spend on your knees in prison.
Bingo.
Trump’s monotone presentations at EVERY photo-op, ALWAYS are the same-oh and the obviously mental midget he is, is stuck in a rut he started with all his blithering lies since he began his putrid attempt at being president the first time, the GOP just painted over his stupidity with a broad brush of, “Lets use this dork to get what we want …”, of course, they forgot to include an off/on button, so they are swimming in their own pond of pig crap … We already know most of the BS Republicans on a first name basis … something tells me there may yet be a rainstorm of Jack Smith type hail stones on their heads as enablers and sponsors of the worst kind …
Someone needs to clean house of all those corrupt idiots in Congress, they are STILL screwing with our futures and the bodies of every woman citizen in the US … The states are now learning J.Q. Public, is REALLY pissed with what they have done to the ROE fiasco …
Even the Pope is taking the heat off same sex marriages, it’s amazing how, ‘THE CHURCH’, may not be everyone’s go to standard anymore, all hail common sense and caring people …