It looks like former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is going to lose his appeal to have his Georgia RICO case moved to federal court.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on the chief judge’s comments, which did not sound encouraging for Meadows:
During the arguments, Pryor pointed to one section of the removal statute that says nothing about “former” federal officials being able to transfer criminal cases out of state courts. That section applies only to current federal officials, he said.
And Pryor said there may have been a reason why Congress did not include former federal officials in the removal statute.
“It might well be that Congress could rationally assume that there’s a heightened reason for removal, where you’re dealing with a current officer, because it involves ongoing operations of the federal government,” Pryor said. “… That heightened concern might not exist where you have a a former officer because it doesn’t involve the ongoing operations of the government.”
Legal experts expect that Meadows will lose 3-0 before the federal appeals court on multiple grounds. Meadows’s argument is similar to Trump’s. Meadows is trying to extend protections for current federal officials to former officials. Mark Meadows is probably going to take his appeal to the Supreme Court, and he will probably lose.
If Mark Meadows loses his appeal to move his case to federal court, it becomes more likely that he will flip on Trump and cooperate. The outcome of the presidential election doesn’t matter to the case in Georgia. Trump can’t issue pardons or dismiss the state-level case even if he would return to the White House.
It would be surprising to see Meadows flip and cooperate at some point because the goal for prosecutors is a Trump conviction and the cooperation of Mark Meadows could get them there.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
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