Patrick Semansky/AP/File
Then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows walks on the South Lawn of the White House on October 30, 2020.
CNN
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Lawyers for Mark Meadows said they have filed his petition with the Supreme Court this weekend to transfer the charges against him on election interference charges in Georgia to federal court, and former President Donald Trump’s former White House chief of staff plans to argue he is entitled to immunity from prosecution.
“It is difficult to imagine a case in which the need for federal courts is more pressing than one that requires resolution of novel questions about the mission and powers of one of the nation’s most important federal agencies,” Meadows’ lawyers wrote in the new complaint, pointing to a recent Supreme Court decision that gave Trump some immunity in federal election interference prosecutions.
The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said last year that the Georgia charges against Meadows should proceed in state court, concluding that former federal employees are exempt from the law and “transferring” lawsuits against state officials to federal court. The court’s opinion, written by Chief Judge William Pryor, also said that “the events giving rise to this criminal action are unrelated to Mr. Meadows’ official duties.”
Since his December ruling, Meadows has repeatedly extended the deadline to ask the Supreme Court to hear the case. Meanwhile, the court’s conservative majority ruled earlier this month that Trump has at least “constructive” immunity from all presidential conduct that special counsel Jack Smith has brought in federal criminal charges. The case, filed in Washington, D.C., will be sent back to a lower court for justices to decide which conduct in Smith’s indictment falls within the scope of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.
Meadows’ new motion repeatedly references the Trump ruling, with his lawyers writing, “It should be no frivolous thing for a White House Chief of Staff to face criminal charges for conduct related to his duties to the President of the United States, especially now that the Supreme Court has recognized that federal immunity affects not only what conduct may be the basis for liability, but also what evidence is considered.”
Meadows also argued that Trump’s immunity ruling meant his status as a former government official should not affect his right to take his case to federal court.
“Just as protecting immunity for former police officers is important to ensure that current and future officers are not deterred from serving diligently, the federal courts’ commitment to litigate that defense is equally important,” Meadows wrote.
Meadows’ lawyers urged the justices that if they are not willing to fully reconsider Meadows’ case, they should at least vacate last year’s ruling by the 11th Circuit and send the case back to a lower court for a retrial in light of President Trump’s exoneration opinion.
The Georgia case is stalled while an appeals court considers ethics allegations against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a matter that is unlikely to be resolved before the election.
CNN’s John Fritz contributed to this report.
