On Tuesday, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows formally requested that the federal court system take his lawsuit against the Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, just one day after being indicted alongside former President Donald Trump and 17 other individuals on charges of attempting to overturn Trump’s election loss in the state.
Mark Meadows formally filed to transfer the case brought against him
George Terwilliger and Joseph Englert, attorneys for Meadows, claim in their brief that a federal law requires state court criminal cases to be transferred to federal court when a person is accused of behaving illegally “under color” of their position as a federal official, reports ABC News.
Sources familiar with the matter say that Trump is also likely to make a similar move.
Nothing Mr. Meadows is said to have done in the indictment, according to Terwilliger, is illegal in and of itself, including scheduling meetings in the Oval Office, calling state representatives on the President’s behalf, going to a state government office, and scheduling a phone conversation. These are the kinds of activities that one might anticipate the Chief of Staff to the US President doing.
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According to Terwilliger, the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution specifically prohibits this form of state meddling in the business of a federal officer. The removal statute protects against the Constitution’s prohibitions.
In a report from Reuters, Terwilliger also claims in the brief that, even if Meadows plans to file a motion to completely dismiss the indictment, transferring the case to federal court would put a stop to Mr. Meadows’ state-court proceedings.
The case involving Meadows has been assigned to District Judge Steve Jones, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
Meadows could not be reached for comment right away.