Federal Court Sends Former Trump Chief of Staff Case Back to Georgia

Fulton County prosecutors argued that Mark Meadows was engaging in political activity, not carrying out the duties of a federal official.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows talks to reporters at the White House in Washington, on Oct. 21, 2020. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Mark Meadows, codefendant and former chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, will have to go to trial in Georgia.

A court on Feb. 28 rejected his last appeal to remove his case to federal court.

Mr. Meadows was one of 18 indicted alongside the former president for efforts to challenge the 2020 election results, which Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis alleged constituted a criminal racketeering enterprise.

Four of the codefendants have since accepted plea bargains, and the district attorney has asked for an August trial date, but none has been set.

The prosecutors are embroiled in a motion to disqualify that alleges Ms. Willis had an improper relationship with the special prosecutor she appointed to lead the case and benefited financially from the relationship.

After the defendants were indicted last August, Mr. Meadows was quick to remove his case to federal court, arguing that he acted in his official capacity as the president’s chief of staff.

A federal judge rejected those arguments, finding that he acted outside of official duties, and Mr. Meadows appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

The three-judge panel of the appeals court affirmed the federal judge’s decision to remand the case last December, and Mr. Meadows petitioned for a rehearing of the case with the full bench. On Feb. 28, the court denied a rehearing with the panel or the full bench.

“The Petition for Rehearing En Banc is also treated as a Petition for Rehearing before the panel and is DENIED,” reads the short order, which came from the same three-judge panel.

At this point, Mr. Meadows could continue to appeal the case to the Supreme Court or take his chances in the Fulton County Superior Court.

Former Federal Officer

In initial court filings, attorneys for Mr. Meadows explained that they sought to remove the case to federal court where the charges should be dismissed because he was acting in his official capacity as a federal officer.

Fulton County prosecutors argued that Mr. Meadows was engaging in political activity, not carrying out the duties of a federal official. They further alleged that the political acts violated his duties as a federal official.

All of the defendants had been charged under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

In addition to the RICO violation, Mr. Meadows was charged with “solicitation of violation of oath by public officer” for his role in setting up the now widely publicized phone call between President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The alleged acts of racketeering naming Mr. Meadows include things like sending texts on behalf of President Trump, setting up meetings, and trying to watch the recounting of ballots.

The 11th Circuit panel found that not only was Mr. Meadows engaging in actions outside his office, but that federal immunity applies only during the period when one is in office—not after.

“Meadows, as a former chief of staff, is not a federal ‘officer’ within the meaning of the removal statute,” Judge William Pryor wrote for the three-judge panel. “Even if Meadows were an ‘officer,’ his participation in an alleged conspiracy to overturn a presidential election was not related to his official duties.”

Judge Robin Rosenbaum concurred but additionally urged Congress to amend the statute to apply to former officers.

“The text and structure of the federal-officer removal statute ... compel our conclusion that former federal officers cannot invoke the statute,” Judge Rosenbaum wrote.

“But not covering former federal officers comes with a great potential cost to our government and those who serve in it. So I respectfully urge Congress to amend Section 1422(a)(1) to protect former federal officers.”