Mark Meadows challenges Fani Willis on Fulton County prosecution in new court filings
Kaelan Deese
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Mark Meadows and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis squared off in court filings Thursday over whether to remove his racketeering and election interference case to federal court.
The former White House chief of staff is seeking to move his case by arguing the actions he was charged for, including establishing calls and contacting state officials, were part of his official duties. He is also seeking to dismiss the charges in federal court.
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Following a Monday hearing over Meadows’s bid, United States District Judge Steve Jones called for additional written arguments from both parties. He asked if even one act listed in the indictment described Meadows acting within his official capacity and whether that could mean his entire case should be moved to federal court.
Willis argued in a Thursday filing to the federal district court in Atlanta that Meadows committed crimes as part of a sweeping scheme beyond his line of work to aid former President Donald Trump’s pursuit of overturning the election. Prosecutors say that even one official act shouldn’t be enough to move the case.
“The circumstances of this case are easily distinguishable,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant conspired not for any purpose related to his duties as chief of staff, but to transform Mr. Trump from a losing political candidate into a winning one, no matter what the outcome of the election had actually been.”
Prosecutors also allege there is good reason not to credit at least part of Meadows’s testimony, pointing out that the “defendant said repeatedly that he misused the pronoun ‘we,’ an assertion that would materially alter the plain meaning of several of his relevant statements.” Meadows, on several occasions, revised parts of his testimony during the hearing, faulting his rhetoric for overuse of the word “we,” saying it was a habit he developed during his time as a congressman so as to not take too much credit for himself.
Meadows is charged with racketeering and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer stemming from his involvement with Trump’s Jan. 2, 2021, call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, when Trump asked him to “find” enough votes to win the state.
As part of the racketeering charge that applies to Meadows and the 18 other defendants, the indictment names 161 actions they took that were allegedly part of the scheme to subvert the election.
Meadows’s counsel fired back a response Thursday evening, arguing the state’s framing of the case shouldn’t control removal.
“Removal is also required, even if the State has charged some acts beyond Mr. Meadows’s official duties, because what controls is Mr. Meadows’s articulation of his federal defense, not the State’s articulation of its state charges,” his attorneys wrote.
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Jones hasn’t indicated when he plans to rule on the matter, but he has said that Meadows’ case could set a precedent.
At least four other defendants, including former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and three alternate electors for Trump, Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer, state Sen. Shawn Still and Cathy Latham, have asked to move their case to federal court because they were also federal officials as part of the DOJ or presidential electors.