Former U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows — who served as former President Donald Trump’s final chief of staff — lost his bid to move his indictment in Fulton County to federal court.
U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones issued the ruling on Friday after conducting a hearing in Atlanta federal court last week. Meadows shocked prosecutors by testifying in his own defense, contributing to roughly five hours of testimony that was considered.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger also delivered testimony that completely debunked the claim that former President Trump ordered him to fabricate votes, a key point that has long been at the center of the left’s “election interference” narrative.
Jones ultimately ruled that Meadows’ alleged involvement in the former president’s objections to the 2020 election was not part of his official duties as a federal government official. “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,” the judge said in his ruling Friday.
“The state concedes that at the time of the events alleged in the indictment, Meadows was a federal officer and his role was the White House Chief of Staff,” Jones wrote. “Thus, the court must next evaluate the second question of whether the acts in the indictment relate to his role as White House Chief of Staff,” he continued.
“In sum, to establish a RICO conspiracy, the state only need prove that any co-conspirator committed one overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy, whether the overt act was specifically charged in the indictment or not.”
Meadows is currently charged with soliciting an official to violate their oath of office and is also accused of violating the federal Hatch Act.
