1 of 3 | The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows' (pictured in 2020) request for a hearing before the entire appellate court to consider moving the criminal charges filed against him in Georgia's Fulton County District Court to federal court instead. File Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI |
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Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Wednesday lost his bid to have a full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing to determine if he should stand trial on election interference charges in Georgia in federal court instead of state court.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Meadows' request for a hearing before the entire appellate court to consider moving the criminal charges filed against him in Georgia's Fulton County District Court to federal court, The Hill and ABC News reported.
The federal appellate court denied the request by issuing a short statement, saying, "The petition for rehearing en banc is denied, no judge in regular active service on the court having requested that the court be polled on rehearing en banc."
The en banc hearing denial upholds a recent ruling denying Meadows' request to remove the matter from Georgia's state court system to federal court based on the federal officer removal statute. The statute says federal courts are the proper venue for trying federal officials for matters related to their official duties.
Chief Judge William Pryor Jr. on Dec. 18 ruled Meadows was not acting in his official capacity when challenging the 2020 election results in Georgia and is a former federal officer, so the federal officer removal statute doesn't apply in his case. Circuit judges Robin Rosenbaum and Nancy Abudu concurred.
Meadows was White House chief of staff from March 31,2020, through Jan. 20, 2021, and argued his status as a federal official requires a federal trial instead of the state-level trial filed against him, former President Donald Trump and others in Georgia.
The three-judge panel in the federal appellate court disagreed, saying the Hatch Act prevents federal officials from acting in a political capacity.
Meadows' actions on behalf of President Trump in the Georgia election were political in nature and not directly related to his official duties as the White House chief of staff, so the federal removal statute doesn't apply, the appellate panel ruled.
The panel affirmed the lower court's ruling against removing the criminal prosecution to federal court and remanded the matter to Georgia's Fulton County District Court.
Removing the matter to federal court would require seating a federal jury and conducting the trial in the future after removing it from Fulton County District Court.
Denying the removal request means Meadows, Trump, and 17 co-defendants must continue defending themselves against racketeering charges in the state court or file an appeal to the Supreme Court to obtain a final verdict on the proper legal venue for the case against them.
