FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows was named as one of the 19 co-defendants in a Fulton County 2020 election interference case.
On Tuesday, Meadows filed in federal court to move the case from Fulton County to a court in Washington.
Now, a federal judge has scheduled a hearing to examine the need, but scheduled it three days after the surrender deadline for the current Superior Court proceedings.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
TRENDING STORIES:
- Man applies to be a cop. Turns out he was wanted in Georgia
- Police impersonator or real chief? This woman said he pulled her over and never identified himself
- Busy Atlanta street reopens over bomb threat at Jewish center
Meadows was named alongside former President Donald J. Trump and 17 other individuals in a nearly 100-page indictment alleging violations of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, as well as for soliciting public officers to violate their oaths of office.
Among those indicted were Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Kenneth Cheseboro, Jenna Ellis, Ray Smith, David Shafer, Sidney Powell, Cathy Latham and more.
Because Meadows was a federal official, and accused of state crimes, he is legally able to request moving the case to federal court, due to what’s known as the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause.
Meadows’ filing Tuesday said that nothing he is said to have done in the indictment “is criminal per se: arranging Oval Office meetings, contacting state officials on the President’s behalf, visiting a state government building and setting up a phone call for the President. One would expect a Chief of Staff to the President of the United States to do these sorts of things.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said Monday, after unsealing the indictment, that all 19 co-defendants would be given until Friday, Aug. 25 to surrender themselves for processing as suspects in a criminal case.
The judge’s order filed Wednesday scheduled the first evidentiary hearing about moving the proceedings for three days after all of the co-defendants would have to surrender themselves.
“Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1455(b)(5), the Court ORDERS that the Parties participate in an evidentiary hearing concerning the Notice of Removal of the Indictment against Mark R. Meadows on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building and United States Courthouse, 75 Ted Turner Drive, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia, in Courtroom 1907,” a federal judge ordered.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
OTHER NEWS:
©2023 Cox Media Group
