Mark Meadows, pictured in his Fulton County Sheriff's Office booking photo on Aug. 23, lost his bid to transfer his racketeering case out of Georgia state court on Monday. File Photo via Fulton County Sheriff's Office/UPI |
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Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court in Georgia on Monday turned down a bid by former President Donald Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to transfer his election interference case from state to federal court.
In a 36-page decision, a three-member panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled unanimously that Meadows' case should remain in Georgia state court, where he is charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis with racketeering for allegedly taking part in a scheme to overturn Trump's 2020 presidential election loss in the state.
Meadows, who also is accused of violating the federal Hatch Act prohibiting officials from using their government status to influence an election, is awaiting trial along with Trump and 17 others in the sweeping state case.
The former North Carolina congressman was seeking to overturn a ruling by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in September rejecting his argument that he was acting within the scope of his federal office duties while committing the alleged election crimes he is accused of in Georgia.
Were the case to be transferred to the federal system, Meadows could claim immunity under the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause, which bars state interference in the duties of federal officials.
However, as did Jones, the appellate panel shot down those arguments, concurring that Meadows' alleged actions to improperly influence the 2020 election outcome fell outside of his official duties as Trump's White House chief of staff.
"We cannot rubber-stamp Meadows' legal opinion that the president's chief of staff has unfettered authority," 11th Circuit Chief Judge William Pryor wrote in the opinion.
The decision carried high stakes because, if the appellate court had agreed with Meadows, it could have upended Willis' entire case against Trump, who is accused of attempting to undermine Georgia's already-certified election results showing him losing to Democrat Joe Biden by more than 11,000 votes.
Among other charges, Willis accuses Meadows of election interference by making a surprise visit to the Cobb County Civic Center in Marietta, Ga., on Dec. 22, 2020, while investigators from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office were reviewing absentee ballot envelopes to check whether voter signatures match those on file.
"I'm not making any allegations as much as I am trying to get to the truth," Meadows was overheard saying, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, which noted he was not permitted entry into the room.
In Monday's decision, the appellate panel characterized the visit as an attempt to "infiltrate" the ongoing recount, unrelated in any way to his official duties.
"Meadows cannot point to any authority for influencing state officials with allegations of election fraud," wrote Pryor, a conservative jurist appointed by President George W. Bush. "At bottom, whatever the chief of staff's role with respect to state election administration, that role does not include altering valid election results in favor of a particular candidate."
Meadows has options to appeal the panel's decision to the full 11th Circuit or to the U.S. Supreme Court.
