Mark Meadows, a former White House chief of staff, is asking a judge to postpone his decision rejecting his request to transfer the Georgia election tampering allegations against him to federal court because he fears he would be “convicted & incarcerated” before the order’s appeal is considered.
The claim was made by Meadows’ attorneys in a submission made on Monday to U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones, who had previously rejected Meadows’ requests that the case be transferred to federal court and that he be granted immunity from prosecution because he was serving in a federal capacity at the time the allegations were made against him.
While requesting that Jones provide a stay of his order until they do so because “there is a substantial risk Mr. Meadows could be irreparably injured” if the judge does not, Meadows’ attorneys stated in their petition that they would file an expedited appeal of the judge’s decision later on Monday.
They pointed out that, at least for the time being, Judge Scott McAfee of the Fulton County Superior Court has not objected to the prosecution’s intention to begin their extensive criminal case toward Meadows, former President Donald Trump, and 17 other people as soon as possible for allegedly attempting to illegally alter the outcome of the Georgia 2020 presidential election results.
NBC News contacted Meadows’ lawyers for comment, but they did not respond right away.
Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, two additional defendants who were former Trump attorneys, have asked for quick trials in the matter and will go on trial on October 23. Although McAfee has stated he is “very skeptical” of the prosecutors’ schedule, he has not yet made a decision on whether the other co-defendants will join them.
According to Meadows’ filing, “the state court held a hearing on related issues last Thursday, but to this point has not rejected the State’s aggressive timeline.” “The Court should, at the very least, suspend the remand order so that Meadows won’t be convicted while her appeal is pending. The State will resume attempting to have Meadows tried 42 days from now, on October 23, 2023, if there is no stay. If the State had its way, Meadows may be compelled to go to trial before the typical time frame for a federal appeal would be completed, at which point she might be found guilty and imprisoned.
According to the complaint, Meadows has already suffered “irreparable harm.”
“On Wednesday, August 24, Meadows was forced to turn himself up after the District Attorney rejected a slight delay of his arrest pending federal deportation. Since then, Meadows has been required to post a bond, forgo arraignment, and start building a defense against probable state charges,” the statement added.
Jones requested a response to Meadows’ motion from the Fulton County District Attorney’s office by Tuesday at noon.
Willis’s spokeswoman declined to comment.
According to Jones’ ruling on Friday, Meadows was not authorized to have the case transferred to federal court since “the evidence before the Court overwhelmingly indicates that Meadows was not acting in the scope of his executive branch responsibilities during most of the Overt Acts charged” in the case. Prosecutors, he said, had “put forth proof that at various points during the time of the supposed conspiracy, Meadows engaged with the Trump campaign, which he acknowledged was outside the role of the White House Chief of Staff.”
He said, “Meadows was needed to come forth with sufficient substantiation of his factual allegation that his acts concerning challenges to the outcome of the Georgian presidential election results were within his duties as Chief of Staff. He fails in his endeavors.
In the district attorney’s case, five of the 19 defendants have so far requested to have their case heard in federal court. The judge ruled on Meadows’ request first, stating that his choice “does not, at this time, have any bearing on the outcome of each of the co-Defendants who submitted notices of removal.”
Trump stated in a court document last week that he might also ask for his case to be transferred to a federal court. According to the document, he has until the end of this month to make a decision in accordance with court-ordered timelines.
For his participation in Trump’s call to Georgia election officials on January 2, 2021, requesting them to “find” the precise number of votes required to beat Biden, Meadows is charged with violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering legislation and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer. He has entered a not-guilty plea to each charge.