Federal judge denies motion for 2 defendants in Ga. 2020 election case to postpone surrender date

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A federal judge has denied motions from two defendants in the 2020 election probe case who tried to postpone their surrender and arrest in Fulton County.

According to court documents, U.S. Judge Steve Jones denied the emergency stay motions for both Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s former Chief of Staff, and Jeffery Clark, a former U.S. Department of Justice official.

Meadows and Clark are two of 19 defendants, including Trump, to be indicted in a 98-page document that was handed up on Aug. 14. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis gave the defendants until Aug. 25 at 12 p.m. to surrender.

[READ: Former President Donald Trump among 19 indicted in Georgia election interference case]

Clark and Meadows each filed a motion to have their case moved to federal court, arguing the Constitution protects them because they were federal officials when the alleged acts occurred.

Both requested the surrender date be postponed while the federal court motion is considered.

On Wednesday, Jones denied both requests for Meadows and Clark to avoid their surrender and must appear by 12 p.m. Friday. According Fulton County Jail records, Clark and Meadows have not surrendered yet as of Thursday morning.

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In Clark’s motion, his attorneys called Willis’ timeline “highly premature” and said that her office did not attempt to speak with any defense attorneys before filing her motion. Willis pushed back against the timeline complaint in her response.

“The defendant’s Motion demanded a halt to the State Court proceedings to avert the necessity of his ‘rushed travel arrangements to fly into Atlanta’ to present himself for voluntarily surrender by the August 25 deadline in lieu of the service of an arrest warrant, as numerous of his co-defendants have now done,” Willis wrote in her response to Clark’s motion. “As inconvenient as modern air travel can admittedly be, whatever nuisance involved in the defendant securing a flight to Atlanta within the window provided is self-evidently insufficient justification to invoke this Court’s authority to enjoin a State felony criminal prosecution.”

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In response to his motion, Meadows was sent a subpoena laying out what he needs to bring to the Fulton County Jail when he surrenders. Meadows also filed a bid to prohibit his arrest.

“While Meadows’ imminent arrest may present an actual injury, there are strong countervailing reasons to not enjoin the state criminal proceedings,” Jones said in the ruling.

A federal court hearing is scheduled for Meadows on Monday.

IN RELATED NEWS:

Election indictment defendants, including former President Trump, have until Friday to surrender

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