In a blow to Trump and his co-defendants, a federal judge has rejected Mark Meadows’s bid to get his trial moved out of Georgia and into the federal court system.
Judge Jones ruled, “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. 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.”
The Judge also wrote, “The Court concludes that Meadows has not shown that the actions that triggered the State’s prosecution related to his federal office. Meadows’s alleged association with post-election activities was not related to his role as White House Chief of Staff or his executive branch authority.”
The ruling:
Key passage of the ruling denying Mark Meadows a federal transfer.
“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[…]”
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— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) September 8, 2023
The ruling is terrible news for those Trump RICO co-defendants who also have filed to have their trial moved out of the state court system and into the federal court system. Trump and his lawyers have made it known that they plan to file to have the former president’s case moved to the federal courts as well.
There are two reasons why Trump and his alleged co-conspirators want their cases moved to federal court. Trump is more likely to get a friendly judge at the federal level, and in federal court, the defendants will try to argue that they were acting in their official capacities or have some sort of immunity or privilege and get the charges dismissed.
The Meadows ruling is a bad omen for Trump and his alleged RICO crew.