Mark Meadows REALLY Desperate To “Go Federal.” Why?

News broke last night that Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who lost his appeal to move his Georgia state RICO case to federal court has thrown a legal “Hail Mary.” He’s asked that the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reconsider the unanimous ruling from the three judge panel that turned him down. Having what’s called an En Banc hearing of an appeal, which is the entire panel of judges on an appellate court doesn’t happen often. They aren’t even obligated to hold such a hearing when it’s requested. They can simply take a look at the panel’s ruling, talk amongst themselves and say no. That the panel’s ruling is the Circuit’s final word on the matter. So it’s a long shot to begin with but what makes Meadows request a true legal Hail Mary is this: The panel’s decision explaining why his request to move to federal court was rejected was written by none other than Aaron Pryor. Pryor wasn’t just another judge who’s turn it was to sit on the panel that heard the case. He’s the freaking Chief Judge of the 11th Circuit! I for one kind of doubt the rest of the judges are going to want to bother any more with Mark Meadows.

Meadows knows this. So do his attorneys. Just as importantly Meadows has been ably represented by competent lawyers, and he’s gone out and gotten his own instead of relying on Trump. Mark Meadows knows better than just about anybody that any lawyer Trump would hire for him will have Trump’s interests as their first/highest priority! Even so, Meadows has just gone and hired a true legal “big gun.”  As Raw Story reports former Solicitor General Paul Clement is both experienced and successful in arguing big cases for conservatives, he actually was one of those who declined to represent Trump

Back in 2017, when the former president’s 2016 campaign faced an FBI investigation into alleged ties with Russia, Clement’s firm was reportedly one of four that turned down White House requests to represent Trump.

“The concerns were, ‘The guy won’t pay and he won’t listen,'” an anonymous White House source told Yahoo News at the time.

I wonder how pissed Trump is to know that a legal gun of Clement’s caliber who turned HIM down is now working for Meadows. More importantly, how scared is Trump (and his lawyers) about this? I’ll get to that in a minute. What’s clear is that Meadows is desperate to avoid being tried in state court in Georgia. Fulton County DA Fani Willis charged a lot of people but she’s willing to deal with the majority of them. Most in fact. However, on the rather short list of those she has no intention of cutting a deal with (at least one that avoids prison time) is Mark Meadows. Like many powerful people Meadows ain’t cut out for prison. Even for a year or two. And while federal prisons aren’t the cushy “club fed” joints they are too often made out to be most are still better than state prisons. So, I get that Meadows would rather be tried in federal court and if worse came to worse do any time he has to do in a federal prison.

However, I think it runs deeper than that. It’s been bugging me for a while but I haven’t really tried to drill down on why. Hell, I’d be in a panic if I was facing prison so I can understand why Meadows or most people would be. Also, if my personal experience visiting prisons to play basketball against inmates (I didn’t go into the Corps until I was 26 and was part of a group of mostly former college players that took on teams at a state prison and the federal one at Marion) is any indication as much as a federal prison sucks it’s still better than a state one. I get it. However, early on Meadows might have cut himself a good deal with Willis and chose not to try.

But consider this: Meadows at one point was cooperating with Jack Smith and it’s reported he provided some useful information before clamming up. Meadows could have served up Trump on a silver platter and wound up (infuriatingly) probably with only probation. More than once I asked myself why Meadows got cold feet. I think, as we see the public rhetoric coming from Trump we might have an answer. Which is quite real and credible threats directly to Meadows and anyone Meadows cares about. There might be a more benign explanation. Jack Smith kept the upcoming Jan. 6 case “tight”, with only Trump being charged. Cluttering it up with other defendants would inevitably have prevented that trial from taking place before next summer or fall. Which means not until after the election.

However, there are a half dozen “individuals” noted in court filings who’s turn WILL be coming. Meadows is no doubt one of them. It’s possible he hoped to play off Fani Willis and Jack Smith against each other. Maybe walk off scot-free with a blanket immunity deal in both jurisdictions. Even if that’s the case I still think while he might not have gotten quite real and credible threats from Trump he’s scared to death of having to testify against him. IF he can get his Georgia case moved into federal court then he’s got a chance to have Smith come riding to the rescue. Willis can put on the same case in federal court down there as she can in state court, but given Meadows is up to his eyeballs in the DC federal case Smith can exert more influence.

I still can’t make out just what’s been going on behind the scenes. However, having read this article from USA Today his new lawyer Clements is coming out swinging.  Clements is pushing the whole immunity thing, claiming official actions and how even if something falls outside the scope of official actions it’s still a federal case. Again, Clements is really good and has won big cases on the biggest stage. Still, one argument he’s making will I think get skewered. USA Today says Clements claims that SCOTUS “has long held” that federal officer holders are shielded from state prosecution after leaving office.” I don’t know if that’s true but you’d think there’d be at least one actual SCOTUS citation/case mentioned with that.

Clements at least acknowledges that Nixon’s Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman and WH Counsel John Erhlichman were prosecuted (for the record convicted too) in federal court. But it was this part that got me:

“No Chief of Staff has ever had to defend his West Wing actions in state court,” Clement wrote. “But if the panel decision stands, and Meadows becomes the first, he will not be last.”

Uh, Mr. Clements I’d like to point out that Haldeman’s crimes were almost exclusively committed in the WH and involved matters and people in the District of Columbia. DC is a federal enclave! Plus, Haldeman’s (and Ehrlichman’s and the others) crimes were mostly committed in DC with other DC players BUT were uncovered by a Special Counsel investigating their boss, President Nixon. Congress would get in on it all too and uncover more evidence but the point is that even if DC had a “state court” to turn to it was a complicated case that would require enormous resources. Most actual states would be happy to let the feds  pick up the tab!

I’m sure Jack Smith will point all that out at the appropriate time. What’s important for now is how desperate Meadows is feeling at the moment. Hiring someone like Clements means shelling out not merely big, but HUGE bucks. Here’s something to watch for: Clements has a lot of juice in DC legal circles. It could be he’s making a show, while quietly sitting down with Jack Smith. As in the two of them and talking serious turkey about a deal for Meadows. DA Willis in Georgia has no intention of letting Meadows off the hook. However, if Meadows really can serve up Trump then she might grudgingly settle for a felony plea with a hefty but suspended sentence.

As one final indicator something like that might be in the works consider this. A day or two ago I mentioned that even former Trump lawyer Tim Parlatore who even after leaving team Trump still kept going on TV to sling bullshit in defense of Trump has suddenly been saying Trump’s gone off the rails. Lawyers, real and credible ones have ways of talking to each other that tell everything while on the surface seeming to say nothing at all. So Parlatore suddenly talking like Trump has lost it (as in going nuts because he knows he’s screwed) might mean that he’s already heard on the DC legal scene that Meadows has a true heavyweight working on a deal.

Granted much of what I’ve written is speculation but it’s worth keep in mind. Between Georgia and DC there are a lot of moving parts and what I’m trying to say is that it’s even more complicated than we’ve already been thinking.  So don’t be surprised is we all get surprised!