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You are here: Home / Politics / Trump Indictments / Mark Meadows Loses His Bid to Move to Federal Court

Mark Meadows Loses His Bid to Move to Federal Court

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Mark Meadows attempt to move to Federal Court FAILS!

That means we get to see his trial.  And more, of course.  This gives me hope.

Trump was waiting to see what happened with Meadows.  This can’t look like a good outcome for Trump.

PDF File of the ruling.

Open thread.

Update:

Reader Interactions

133Comments

  5. 5.

    Scout211

    He didn’t even meet the “quite low threshold.”  Ha Ha Ha. Huh, you mean trying to overturn an election using a corrupt conspiracy is not one of the duties of the COS?
    And his testimony is on record.

    CNN US District Court Judge Steve Jones wrote in the decision that Meadows had not met even the “‘quite low’ threshold for removal” to federal court, because his activities for the Trump campaign were outside the scope of his federal role as White House chief of staff.

    “The Court finds that the color of the Office of the White House Chief of Staff did not include working with or working for the Trump campaign, except for simply coordinating the President’s schedule, traveling with the President to his campaign events, and redirecting communications to the campaign,” Jones wrote. “Thus, consistent with his testimony and the federal statutes and regulations, engaging in political activities is exceeds the outer limits of the Office of the White House Chief of Staff.”

  11. 11.

    Alison Rose

    @WaterGirl: Yes, even if it were moved, it’s still a state crime and affected by state law, so there would not be a federal pardon.

    I just saw Neal Katyal on MSNBC note that the language of the ruling seems to say that no other such attempts would be successful either, that the judge was sort of telling all of them not to try it.

  12. 12.

    Scout211

    @Alison Rose: This is from the NBC News online article:

    To date, five of the 19 defendants in the DA’s case have moved to have their case heard in federal court. In a court filing this week, Trump said he might move to do so as well. Under court-ordered deadlines, he has until the end of this month to decide, according to the filing.

    Jones said in Friday’s ruling that his decision does not impact the pending removal efforts of the other four defendants.

    ETA:  added a paragraph

  13. 13.

    smith

    Repeating from the thread below–

    The judge’s decision looks really thorough (but IANAL). The only bit of Meadows’ actions the judge thought was related to his federal role was when Meadows asked someone for contact info for an official in PA. I’m guessing that this was in the context of messing around with fake electors, but maybe that context wasn’t stated. Anyway, this doesn’t bode well for any of the defendants who had federal jobs:

    As a senior official in the executive branch, therefore, Meadows cannot have acted in his role as a federal officer with respect to any efforts to influence, interfere with, disrupt, oversee, or change state elections: those activities are expressly delegated to the States.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    @Scout211: Hmm.

    But it does tell them that if what they were doing was outside the scope of their duties, they won’t find any love there.

    By which I mean, all of them.  Because as far as I know, subverting an election is not within the scope of duties – not even other duties as assigned.  :-)

  18. 18.

    Dangerman

    They will call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
    No one you see, is dumber than he,
    And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
    Flying there under, under the sea!

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    I would think for this ruling Meadows would have to be thinking. It doesn’t look good for him to get immunity, which was his biggest goal as I understand it, hoping to get the whole thing thrown out.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    @LAO: “nobody cares about the hatch act.”

    I can’t remember who said that, but I’m glad to see them proven wrong.

  23. 23.

    LAO

    @Dangerman: I don’t know, it seems fairly clear Meadows perjured himself during the hearing. I’m not sure he hasn’t disqualified himself as a potential cooperator.

  24. 24.

    Ken

    @smith: Pity, that. I’ll need to rethink my plan to impersonate a federal official to get those unpaid parking tickets cancelled. Maybe if I pretend to be a diplomat….

  28. 28.

    Scout211

    @LAO: Question for you.  Will Fani Willis be able to use Meadows’ testimony from this hearing as evidence in the RICO case?  He all but confessed to following Trump’s orders to engage in the conspiracy.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    I think I had mentioned that I’ve been on pins and needles waiting to see what would happen with Meadows. So this feels like a big Joe Biden deal to me.

  30. 30.

    Anonymous At Work

    Meadows’ trial will be with Cheesey-bro and The Kraken Karen, since I think he requested a speedy trial.

    I think Cheesey-bro and Meadow’s primary trial strategy is to show up with “I’m with stupid” t-shirts and arrows pointing at Sidney Powell.

  31. 31.

    RepubAnon

    @WaterGirl: In other words, blatant violations of the Hatch Act are, as a matter of law, outside the scope of a federal employee’s duties…

    Nice to see laws actually applied to the facts.

  33. 33.

    SpaceUnit

    These clowns are about to learn that their Fox News bullshit ain’t gonna play in a court of law.

    Reminds me of when those three inbred goobers that murdered Ahmaud Arbery tried to claim they were victims of a woke mob.  Lady Justice is a cold hard bitch.

  34. 34.

    wjca

    @Scout211:

    Jones said in Friday’s ruling that his decision does not impact the pending removal efforts of the other four defendants.

    Which would seem to mean that they, like Meadows, can testify at length, and under oath.  Both incriminating themselves and providing evidence against TIFG.  And then get turned done.

  35. 35.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Scout211: Yes. Subject to Hearsay objections, though.  Will seriously hamper Meadows’ defenses and others that want to plant blame on Meadows indirectly.

    I doubt Meadows or the others will testify in the main case, though.  But this was a major blow against their possible defenses.  The state electors are questionable as federal officials since they are the state’s electors.  Meadows had the best chance and he lost.

  36. 36.

    dr. bloor

    @smith: His request for input from both sides re: splitting some of the charges suggested a nuanced decision that Meadows barely deserved.  Happily, the principle that “if it’s illegal, it’s not part of your job” has survived this round of judiciary Jeopardy.

  37. 37.

    Scout211

    @wjca:Which would seem to mean that they, like Meadows, can testify at length, and under oath.  Both incriminating themselves and providing evidence against TIFG.  And then get turned done.

    That was my thinking.

  38. 38.

    Ken

    @Anonymous At Work:

    “Your honor, I was misled by this seductress into committing an illegal act!”

    “I had a guy here last week for robbing a convenience store who said the same thing. Didn’t help. By the way, you realize you just confessed to conspiracy, again?”

  39. 39.

    LAO

    @Scout211: That’s an excellent question.  I’m not sure what Georgia evidentiary rules are but my gut (applying NY law) is no because it’s not a “statement in furtherance of the RICO conspiracy “ but his testimony would be admissible against Meadows himself.

    I’m sure greater legal minds will appear and hopefully provide their insight

    ETA: statements in furtherance of the conspiracy are NOT hearsay.

  40. 40.

    Dangerman

    @LAO: I don’t know, it seems fairly clear Meadows perjured himself during the hearing.

    He hears the train a-comin’, it’s rolling ’round the bend
    And he ain’t seen the sunshine since he don’t know when
    He’s stuck in Fulton County prison, and time keeps draggin’ on

  41. 41.

    HumboldtBlue

    Someone is NOT happy.

    “The group suing me in Colorado to ridiculously try and Unconstitutionally keep me off the ballot (I am leading against DeSanctimonious by almost 50 points, and beating Crooked Joe, BIG!), is TRUMP DERANGED ‘CREW,’ composed of many slime balls & groups like Norm Eisen through Brookings or Just Security, Andrew Weissmann, Joyce Vance, et al. They are, perhaps illegally, working with Weissmann acolyte Lisa Monaco at ‘Injustice.’ I have been beating them for years, including Impeachments. MAGA!!!” wrote the ex-president, who is now facing 91 felony charges in four criminal indictments across three jurisdictions.

    “Crew also sued me on emoluments at my recently sold, and very beautiful, D.C. hotel, and LOST BIG,” Trump continued, via his Truth Social website. “These are bad Radical Left people and groups that use the Injustice Department as though it were their own. Lisa Monaco does whatever they tell her to do. They play her like a fiddle. So bad for our once great Country. They will have major liability for what they are doing to America! It is, working with Deranged Jack Smith & others, ELECTION INTERFERENCE at a level never seen before. MAGA!”

  43. 43.

    Martin

    @Alison Rose: I had to deal with him all the fucking time in my job and there were few more entitled assholes among the faculty than he was. I am savoring this moment more than I should.

  44. 44.

    WaterGirl

    @HumboldtBlue: boy, it’s really hard for me to believe that Trump knows who just security is who Lisa Monaco is who Andrew Weissmann is… all of those people. I think he’s being said names by somebody.

  46. 46.

    catclub

    I think there was a report that the Grand Jury wanted to indict Lindsey Graham and the two ex-senators from Georgia in the conspiracy. But Willis did not do it.

    I haz a sad.

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    @catclub: I don’t know whether the grand jury helped determine that it would be a RICO case or if they just also thought those guys should be indicted. I’m guessing it’s the latter.

    but I wonder is is Willis could come back later and charge them separately just not as part of the RICO case.

  51. 51.

    Scout211

    @WaterGirl: I think he’s being said names by somebody.

    Pretty sure his minions do most of the shit posting for him.  He seems to shit post in all caps and they use lower case semi-appropriately.  He may be right there when they post, but I don’t think he wrote that.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    @Martin: I see we are thinking along the same lines. I’m thinking Lindsey Graham, or a previously sitting senator, would be a good get, that should buy you some thing if you have the goods on those people.

  53. 53.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Ken: “I was providing intelligent advice on legal strategies that, while unconventional, did not contravene written laws.  My advice was then given to someone who, my defense team and I strongly believe, is unable to safely use silverware by herself.”

  54. 54.

    Redshift

    My understanding from the discussion song actual legal experts is that Meadows had the best chance of succeeding with this move. Which doesn’t mean no others will, but it seems pretty unlikely.

  55. 55.

    Dan B

    @Alison Rose: Willis may have thought the RICO charges were more difficult to prove for Graham and the others but there are other charges that could be brought.

  58. 58.

    Anonymous At Work

    @LAO: I think most of what Meadows said goes to his state of mind.  The possible perjury/outright lie would demolish his credibility, if he had any, should he testify.  I don’t think there’s a furtherance of a conspiracy that cannot already be shown by “I set up the phone call that was recorded with my voice on the recording” and the like.

  59. 59.

    Scout211

    New filing today from Guiliani

    Any attorneys here like to comment on this pile of crap?

    Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani filed a new legal challenge Friday against the criminal charges he’s facing in Georgia over his attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election.

    He is asking the judge to quash the indictment, or at least to set a hearing on the matter.

    Giuliani argued in the filing that there were “deficiencies” in the indictment that rendered it invalid and that prosecutors were violating his rights against “double jeopardy” by how they structured the racketeering conspiracy allegations.

    The indictment is “a conspiratorial bouillabaisse consisting of purported criminal acts, daily activities, and constitutionally protected speech,” the filing argues.

  62. 62.

    Barbara

    Removal is for civil actions that could have been brought in federal court to begin with. Federal law might be a defense to a state law prosecution but using removal statute is bizarre.

  64. 64.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Novak Djokovic once again cements his place as the biggest, non-MAGA asshole athlete alive.  He beat Ben Shelton, a 20-year old, American kid having his first big Major run at the US Open and then taunted Shelton after the match by mimicking the celebration Shelton had been doing throughout the tournament even though Shelton did nothing directed at Djokovic aside from play hard and push him to a tie-break in the third set.  Shelton is also Bi-Racial which makes Novak co-opting his antics even more gross (Black athletes in tennis have their behavior policed and criticized constantly in ways that white players don’t).

  70. 70.

    Anonymous At Work

    @WaterGirl: Deficiencies in indictment really require half-ass lawyering by prosecutors based on ultra-thin evidence that they are twisting, that anyone can see is twisting.  Like that newspaper that got raided because of butt-hurt.  Being a cultist and thinking the indictment doesn’t follow the cult’s dogma is a loser.

    Guiliani’s admission of civil liability in defamation will also hinder matters, and I wonder if that’s the double jeopardy to which he is referring (erroneously).

  71. 71.

    JWR

    Just now catching up on the days threads, so apologies if this has been discussed. (From The Los Angeles Times.) Now back to my blog kechup.

    The Orange Unified school board Thursday night became the sixth California school system to require notifying parents when their child identifies as transgender — a decision made after state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against Chino schools over a similar policy.

    The vote came at the end of a long and contentious board meeting at which dozens of speakers, including many from outside the school system, testified emotionally for or against the board resolution.

    The 4-0 vote came about 11:30 p.m., after three board members opposed to the measure walked out. Their exit followed a boardroom disruption started by opponents of the resolution in the audience. It turned into a shouting match between opposing sides and a brief scuffle. Most of the yelling came from resolution supporters.

    I wish they would require that only parents with kids in the schools be allowed to speak. Maybe issue a parent photo ID. ;)

  73. 73.

    LAO

    @Anonymous At Work: I don’t understand what you wrote. To be clear, if Meadows testified as a government witness in the Fulton County case, his testimony as to what Trump said to him or any directions by Trump would be admissible as non hearsay statements in furtherance of the conspiracy.

    This would not apply to Meadows’ testimony in the removal hearing. But, of course his testimony from the hearing would be admissible against meadows himself, just not the other defendants.

  74. 74.

    Geminid

    I wonder if Trump will comment on the Meadows ruling. I’d like to know what Meadows is up to. Trump might also want to know.

  75. 75.

    Scout211

    On the CNN feed, they added this:

    The judge said in a footnote that his findings shouldn’t be interpreted as an opinion on “Meadows’s propensity to be truthful as a general matter.”

    LOL.  “Propensity to be truthful as a general matter” is the new “perjury.”  LOL

  79. 79.

    grumbles

    @Anonymous At Work:

    Meadows’ trial will be with Cheesey-bro and The Kraken Karen, since I think he requested a speedy trial.

    I believe this is officially known as the “Cheese and Crackers” trial.

    (h/t Popehat)

  84. 84.

    Scout211

    The AJC reports that the grand jury recommended 39 indictments.

    Sorry, I tried to post a nice neat chart but it didn’t post well.

    There were some interesting people recommended for indictment, like:

    The grand jury also recommended criminal indictments for former state Sen. William Ligon and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, though neither has been charged with crimes.

    . . .

    A Fulton judge last summer disqualified Willis from investigating Jones, saying the DA had a political conflict of interest. The Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia is weighing whether to appoint a special counsel to see whether Jones should face charges

    Added:  And this:

    Three of the 16 electors were ultimately charged: former Georgia GOP chairman David Shafer, state Sen. Shawn Still and former Coffee County GOP chairwoman Cathy Latham. At least eight others negotiated immunity deals with prosecutors after the special grand jury authored its report.

  85. 85.

    bbleh

    I assume he’ll appeal.  Wonder what 11CA will say.  IANAL, but reading the opinion it seems like he made a really conscientious effort to determine the boundaries of “color of office.”  (I like his cite of Scalia too.)  But I guess I could see other judges drawing a different line, even saying “nah, he said he thought it was part of his official duties, so gotta presume it was, end of story.”

    Still, kinda figuring there’s some new ketchup stains on some walls.

  86. 86.

    smith

    @Anonymous At Work: Did he? I didn’t see that, only for Cheese ‘n Crackers, with rumors that Eastman might do the same. We do still have another important ruling coming up, I think, about the trial date for the other 17. We know at least two will go early, but I don’t know that it’s yet been determined if the entire gang of 19 will be tried together.

  87. 87.

    JWR

    @HumboldtBlue:

    I have been beating them for years, including Impeachments. MAGA!!!

    […]

    ELECTION INTERFERENCE at a level never seen before. MAGA!”

    Writing “MAGA” is like a tic with him, isn’t it? Like a case of  uncontrollable hiccups.

  92. 92.

    Anonymous At Work

    @LAO: I was thinking of trying to admit Meadow’s testimony into evidence directly against people other than Meadow’s portion of the conspiracy.  No confrontation of the witness is major foundation for Hearsay.
    And most of what Meadows said was about his own state of mind or was evidence that has an independent basis, like Raffensperger’s phone call or visiting the vote counting arena.

  93. 93.

    Mike in NC

    Meadows needs to do hard time. He gave up a safely gerrymandered House seat just to be Fat Bastard’s Chief Enabler. Ten years at a minimum should get his attention.

  95. 95.

    Anonymous At Work

    @smith: I thought?  On this, I could easily be wrong.  I thought he requested speedy trial AND removal.

    Anyone? Bueller?

  98. 98.

    Jackie

    @Geminid: It’s not a matter of if, but HOW SOON!😂

    Meadows being denied removal to federal court probably sinks TIFG’s chances of being moved – should he request it.

  99. 99.

    Geminid

    @JPL: I hope we’ll find out more about Perdue’s and Loeffler’s roles. They needed to stay on Trump’s good side because they wanted his support in their elections, so they couldn’t hang back like Kemp and Raffensperger did.

    After getting crushed by Kemp in last year’s Governor primary, Perdue is pretty much out of politics. I saw that Kemp threw Perdue a bone by appointing him to the Stone Mountain Memorial Park board. He oughta fit right in there.

  107. 107.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl: Kellyanne. I think it was when she was questioned about the Hatch Act while hawking Ivanka’s clothing line while on the WH lawns.

    Meadows wasn’t COS until much later.

  110. 110.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @JWR: ​
      he’s known to like show tunes:

    You coax the blues right out of the horn, Mame
    You charm the husk right off of the corn, Mame

    You make our cotton easy to pick, Mame
    You give my old mint julep a kick, Mame

    You brought the cakewalk back into style, Mame
    You make the weeping willow tree smile, Mame

  111. 111.

    Jackie

    @Alison Rose: We used to put a blob of peanut butter on our GSD’s snout – just beyond easy reach of her tongue. She’d lick from the front while walking “towards it.” Then she’d switch to windshield wiper mode – which helped her eventually reach it all. Funnier than hell! She always forgave us – because PEANUT BUTTER!

  113. 113.

    Jackie

    Is Kari Lake a loser/winner? Apparently TIFG contacted Blake Masters and strongly suggested he not run for senate – leaving the way for Lake.

    Doesn’t this suggest Lake isn’t on TIFG’s short list for VP? All that couch surfing at MAL for naught? (Which rumor says pissed Melanoma off) 🤔🤭

    Saw it on the NYT so no link

  115. 115.

    wjca

    @Alison Rose: Ewwww are they banging?

    Nah.  Just heavy petting….

    Although I suppose it wouldn’t be that surprising if she’s been spending a lot of time on her knees. (Gratuitous Marilyn Monroe quote.)

  118. 118.

    Jackie

    @Alison Rose: I can’t imagine Kari being that desperate!!! And, obviously TIFG is terrified of Melanoma for ??? so I doubt he’d dare – at least at MAL.

  119. 119.

    Ken

    @JWR: Writing “MAGA” is like a tic with him, isn’t it?

    Product placement. He’s probably making as much off the baseball caps as from his golf courses.

  120. 120.

    smith

    @Jackie: I hope Masters doesn’t listen. It would be greatly entertaining to see a MAGA-palooza to the death, and it wouldn’t hurt our guy any either.

  121. 121.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: I always figured Kari Lake was on her own short list for VP, but not Trump’s. Lake lacks the requisite status for the job, and is too personally ambitious to be a reliable running mate.

    Someone like Governor Noehm would be likely choice. Trump might not be able to get a Senator to run with him, except maybe Tuberville who’s too dumb to recognize a toxic tinhorn when he sees one.

  123. 123.

    Jackie

    @smith: Me, too. Although in MAGA GQP AZ, not getting TIFG’s endorsement AND TIFG endorsing Lake…

    I think Gallegos will beat either, regardless.

    And should Sinema run as an Indy, she’s likely to pull from GOP voters – she’s persona non grata for Democratic voters.

  124. 124.

    Scout211

    @Geminid: Someone like Governor Noehm would be likely choice

    She’s all the gossipy political reporters are talking about right now.  Trump is appearing with her this weekend and she is formally endorsing him.  The political reporters claim that this means she’s ahead in the “veepstakes.”

    WASHINGTON (AP) As his rivals hold town halls and meet-and-greets in early voting states, Donald Trump will head to South Dakota Friday for a party fundraiser that will double as an opportunity for the state’s governor, Kristi Noem, to showcase herself as a potential vice presidential pick.

    Trump will join the South Dakota Republican Party for a “Monumental Leaders Rally” in Rapid City. Noem will appear alongside the former president and is expected to endorse him, creating an image of the pair that Noem’s allies hope looks like a presidential ticket, according to two senior Republicans familiar with her thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity because she had not yet made her endorsement public.

  126. 126.

    Jackie

    @Scout211: Ms Googly Eyes “put TIFG on Mt Rushmore!” Flattery and gushing adoration are necessary requirements for his VP short list.

    BUT will Melanomia allow an attractive younger? woman be on the ticket?

  128. 128.

    wjca

    @Geminid: Trump might not be able to get a Senator to run with him, except maybe Tuberville who’s too dumb to recognize a toxic tinhorn when he sees one.

    And Trump is someone who would simply love to hobnob with an actual football Head Coach.

  131. 131.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @grumbles:

    I believe this is officially known as the “Cheese and Crackers” trial.

    (h/t Popehat)

    “Jack E. Smith” on Twitter called it the appetizer trial.

  133. 133.

    unctuous

    @Scout211:

    Meadows: “Everything I do for Trump is part of my federal government job description!”

    Judge and everyone not in the Trump cult: ”Um, no.”

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