Meadows’s plea to move Georgia racketeering case to federal court denied by judge.
A Victory for Fulton County: Judge Rejects Meadows’s Motion
A federal judge has delivered a blow to former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows by rejecting his motion to hear state racketeering charges from Georgia in federal court.
This ruling is a significant win for Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, who initiated the racketeering prosecution.
Judge Steve C. Jones of the Northern District of Georgia made the decision on Sept. 8, stating that he lacked jurisdiction in the matter and that the case should be sent back to Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta.
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Judge Jones, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2011, addressed the matter in a 49-page order. He concluded that Meadows had not met his burden of proof and therefore declined to assume jurisdiction over the state’s criminal prosecution, remanding the case to Fulton County Superior Court.
The judge had asked for additional briefing from both the defense and state prosecutors regarding the possibility of hearing the case in federal court if a single overt act committed by Meadows was protected by federal law. However, Judge Jones found that while some of the overt acts were within the scope of Meadows’s duties as a federal officer, others were not.
Furthermore, the court determined that Meadows’s “political activities” exceeded the limits of his role as White House Chief of Staff, and he was unable to explain the extent of his authority. The judge emphasized that Meadows’s actions related to state elections were expressly delegated to the states and not within the purview of the executive branch.
The case has garnered significant attention as it is one of the four criminal cases brought against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants this year. The outcome of Meadows’s case in federal court may serve as a bellwether for the other Trump-related prosecutions.
President Trump, Meadows, and 17 co-defendants were indicted by a state grand jury in Fulton County on Aug. 14 over their involvement in the events of Jan. 6.
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