Mark Meadows asks federal court to block his arrest in Georgia election case

Aug. 22 (UPI) -- As the first of Donald Trump's 18 co-defendants in the Fulton County, Ga., election case surrendered to the Fulton County Jail on Tuesday, the former president's chief of staff Mark Meadows sought to have his state case moved to federal court.

In a new court filing Tuesday, Meadows asked a federal court to issue an order and block District Attorney Fani Willis from seeking his arrest if he fails to surrender to the Fulton County Jail by Friday's deadline. Meadows is asking for an extension of one business day after the court scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Monday.

"District Attorney Fani Willis has made clear that she intends to arrest Mr. Meadows before this court's Monday hearing and has rejected out of hand a reasonable request to defer one business day until after this court's hearing," Meadows said in the filing, which includes an email from Willis denying his extension request.

"I am not granting any extensions," Willis wrote Tuesday in the email. "Your client is no different than any other criminal defendant in this jurisdiction."

"Absent this court's intervention, Mr. Meadows will be denied the protection from arrest that federal law affords former federal officials, and this court's prompt but orderly consideration of removal will be frustrated," Meadow's filing states.

Meadows has filed to move the case from the Fulton County Superior Court to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, court records obtained by UPI show.

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ordered Willis to respond to Meadows' request for an emergency stay of her arrest warrant by 3 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

Meadows, 64, was Trump's last White House chief of staff and is alleged to have explored ways to overturn the 2020 election, which includes the former president's January 2021 call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

On Tuesday, bail bondsman Scott Hall and attorney John Eastman became the first of Trump's 18 co-defendants to surrender to the Fulton County Jail.

Hall was arrested on seven charges related to his involvement in tampering with voting systems in Coffee County, Ga.: two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, three counts of conspiracy to commit a felony, one count of conspiracy to defraud the state or political subdivision and a violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Hall, 58, is a former president of the Georgia Association of Professional Bondsmen. He has a bond agreement of $10,000 and was expected to be released after being processed.

Eastman, a former attorney for Trump, surrendered a short time later. He was indicted on nine counts, including conspiracy to commit forgery and filing false documents, as well as RICO charges.

Eastman, 68, was allegedly behind pushing a fringe legal theory that Vice President Mike Pence had the power overturn the results of the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021. The former dean of Chapman University Law school is also charged for filing a federal case in Georgia falsely claiming that thousands of people voted illegally.

He agreed to a $100,000 bond on Monday.

Upon surrendering, Eastman released a statement rejecting the indictment as one that "should never have been brought" and an attack on the First Amendment right to "petition the government for redress of grievances."

"The attempt to criminalize our rights to such redress with this indictment will have -- and is already having -- profound consequences for our system of Justice," he said.

"My legal team and I will vigorously contest every count of the indictment in which I am named, and also every count in which others are named, for which my knowledge of the relevant facts, law, and constitutional provisions may prove helpful."

Trump, who is seeking the GOP nomination for re-election in 2024, agreed Monday to a $200,000 bond and said he would surrender on Thursday.

Trump must comply with a list of terms to honor the agreement, including making no threats against his co-defendants, witnesses or the community. Trump has been accused of making threats on social media to prosecutors and judges in cases against him in Georgia, New York and Washington.

All defendants in the Georgia case have until noon on Friday to voluntarily surrender at the Fulton County Jail, which is open 24 hours a day.

Other co-defendants include Trump's former attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis.

Attorney Kenneth Chesebro agreed Monday to a $100,000 bond.

The 19 defendants are charged in a scheme to overturn the results of Georgia's 2020 presidential election in which Democrat Joe Biden won.

In a social media post on Monday announcing his plans to surrender, Trump criticized Willis and said the case against him is brought at Biden's behest.