Federal appeals court hears Mark Meadows' call to move his Georgia case

Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Friday to try to move his Georgia election racketeering case to the federal courts.

"This is not a case where the Chief of Staff went down to Georgia in his private capacity and got in some kerfuffle; it is a criminal prosecution of the Chief of Staff based on actions taken in the White House while discharging his official duties," Meadows' attorneys wrote in an appeals court filing.

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in September rejected the Meadows argument that he was acting within the scope of his federal office duties while committing the alleged election crimes filed against him in Georgia.

"Meadows failed to show he is entitled to federal removal under the federal officer statute because he was not acting in the scope of his federal office at the time of the acts alleged," Jones wrote in a September 12 ruling.

Meadows is one of the defendants in the Georgia election racketeering conspiracy case for his acts to help former President Trump to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results.

Meadows is charged with soliciting an official to violate their oath of office and is also accused of violating the federal Hatch Act, which prohibits officials from using their government status to influence an election.

If Meadows succeeds in his appeal to move the case out of state court to the federal system, he can then claim immunity under the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause. That clause bars state interference in the duties of federal officials.

That protection only works for federal officials acting within the legal scope of their duties. So if the appeals court agrees with Judge Jones that Meadows was not acting within that scope the case isn't likely to be moved to federal court.