Mark Meadows fails in bid to move Georgia election case to federal court
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[September 09, 2023]
By Jack Queen
(Reuters) - Charges against Donald Trump's former White House chief of
staff Mark Meadows involving efforts to reverse the 2020 U.S. election
results will not be tried in federal court, a sign that similar bids by
the Republican former president and his co-defendants to move the
criminal case to a more favorable venue will fail.
Friday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones denying a bid by
Meadows to move his case from Georgia state court to federal court gave
an early win to Fulton County prosecutors, who in August charged Trump
and 18 others with conspiring to undo Trump's election loss to
Democratic President Joe Biden.
Trump also may seek to move his trial from state to federal court, his
lawyer said in a court filing on Thursday.
Meadows filed a notice of appeal later on Friday.
A lawyer for Meadows did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden
in the 2024 election, has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.
Meadows also has pleaded not guilty.
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Meadows is accused of arranging calls and meetings in which prosecutors
have said Trump pressured election officials to change the vote count in
his favor, including a call in which the then-president urged Georgia
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to deliver
him the state, which Biden won.
Prosecutors have argued that those acts were not "necessary and proper"
duties for a U.S. president and his chief of staff. Meadows has said
they were part of his portfolio as Trump's top White House aide. The law
allows defendants to have their cases heard in federal court if the
charges against them stem from their official duties.
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![](../images/090923PIX/news_p1.jpg)
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows speaks to reporters
following a television interview, outside the White House in
Washington, U.S. October 21, 2020. REUTERS/Al Drago
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Meadows could have faced a friendlier jury pool in federal court,
which draws from a larger and more politically diverse area than
Fulton County, Georgia, the Democratic stronghold where the case was
filed.
Moving to federal court also would have let Meadows argue that he is
immune from state prosecution because he was carrying out his duties
as a federal official.
Meadows, Trump and 17 others were charged in a sprawling indictment
in August. Trump has said the criminal case and three others he
faces are part of a political plot aimed at preventing him from
retaking the White House in next year's election.
Trump faces criminal charges in four cases. He is also under
indictment in Florida for his handling of classified documents after
leaving office, in Washington for his efforts to overturn the 2020
election and in New York over hush money paid to a porn star before
the 2016 election. Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not
guilty in those cases as well.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jack Queen; additional reporting by
Costas Pitas; Editing by Dan Wallis, Will Dunham and Noeleen Walder)
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