Lawyers for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the Georgia voter racketeering case and move it to federal court, pointing to the high court’s recent ruling granting the former -President Trump some immunity in his federal election subversion case.
In a petition to the Supreme Court, Meadows’ lawyers said the Georgia case “framed the case as a ‘federal intrusion into matters of state authority'” and argued that a federal forum is needed to address questions about Meadows’ actions while served as Trump’s boss. of personnel.
“It is difficult to imagine a case in which the need for a federal forum is more pressing than one that requires the resolution of new questions about the duties and powers of one of the most important federal offices in the country,” the lawyers wrote in the brief. , shared with The Hill.
The petition is Meadows’ latest attempt to take the case to federal court and comes months after a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied his request last December, ruling that former federal employees – unlike of current ones – are ineligible to move their charges. Even if the law applied to former federal employees, the panel said Meadows could not take advantage of the statute because he did not establish that he was acting in his official role.
The appeals court later decided not to hear arguments last February.
The former chief of staff has argued that he was acting in his official capacity as chief of staff when the alleged actions occurred and hopes the court’s move will help him claim immunity from the prosecution, which accuses Meadows, Trump and more than a dozen others of an illegal attempt to overturn President Biden’s victory in Georgia.
In addition to Meadows, four of Trump’s other co-defendants have made similar efforts to pursue their charges, but they are moving on a slower schedule and have not yet reached the Supreme Court.
The Georgia case is virtually on hold as a state appeals court prepares to hear arguments in December over Trump’s efforts to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought the case against the former president.
Zach Schonfeld contributed reporting.
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