As we reported earlier on Wednesday, Mark Meadows, former Chief of Staff for former President Donald Trump, facing indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, has filed a Notice of Removal, seeking to have his case moved to federal court on the basis of his being a federal employee acting in that capacity at the time of the conduct set forth in the indictment.
The catch for Meadows is that an evidentiary hearing on the removal isn’t set until Monday, August 28th, while Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has set a deadline for surrender to authorities (for all 19 defendants) of noon on Friday, August 25th.
Meadows, via his attorneys, sought emergency relief from the federal court to which he is attempting to have his case removed. His motion asked Judge Steven C. Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to grant immediate removal of the matter or, alternatively, to enter an order prohibiting Willis from arresting him prior to the District Court’s hearing on Monday.
Judge Jones ordered Willis’ office to file its reply to Meadows’ motion by 3:00 pm Eastern Wednesday. The reply was filed shortly before the deadline.
Now, Judge Jones has denied Meadows’ motion.
READ the judge’s ruling denying Meadows’ bid for an emergency order preventing his arrest: https://t.co/DUD9iwt5Jh
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 23, 2023
In a six-page Order (which can be viewed below), Jones explained why he believes the cases cited by Meadows in support of his motion are distinguishable and not applicable here. The judge pointed to the language from the statute regarding removal requiring an evidentiary hearing before the court can determine whether it properly has jurisdiction over the case as the reason he could not grant immediate removal. He also pointed to the statutory language “clearly requiring state criminal proceedings continue until the federal court has assumed jurisdiction and notified the state court” as the reason he could not enjoin Willis from proceeding with the arrest.
To be clear, this ruling does not mean that Meadows will not ultimately be able to have the case moved to federal court (nor does it have any bearing on his assertion of immunity). It simply means that the District Court has declined to intervene in the state proceedings prior to holding the evidentiary hearing on Monday. This means that Meadows will, like the other defendants, need to turn himself in by Friday unless he immediately appeals Judge Jones’ Order. (So far, there is no indication that he will.)
Similarly, Judge Jones denied former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark’s motion for a stay of the state court proceedings, citing principles of federalism. Thus, Clark, too, will need to surrender to law enforcement in Fulton County prior to the Friday deadline, absent an appeal.
As we also reported, their co-defendants, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, surrendered to authorities Wednesday afternoon. Former President Trump has announced his intention to turn himself in on Thursday.
Order Denying Relief – Meadows by Susie Moore on Scribd
