Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows has filed to have the Georgia criminal case moved out of Fulton County and into federal court, as he claims he was only doing what Trump wanted.
The filing from Meadows’ attorney George Terwilliger is based on federal law that they argue requires the removal of criminal proceedings brought in state court to the federal court system when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.
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“Nothing Mr. Meadows is alleged in the indictment to have done is criminal per se: arranging Oval Office meetings, contacting state officials on the President’s behalf, visiting a state government building, and setting up a phone call for the President,” Terwilliger wrote in the filing. “One would expect a Chief of Staff to the President of the United States to do these sorts of things.”
The problem with the just following orders as Trump’s chief of staff defense is that Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony to the 1/6 Committee undercuts these claims. Hutchinson testified that Meadows was an active participant in the fake elector scheme.
There is also the issue of all of Meadows’s text messages about overturning the election. The Meadows texts have been called a road map to the coup, and the texts also are evidence that Meadows wasn’t some hired-hand chief of staff who was only following the orders of his boss.
The official duties of a White House Chief of Staff do not include participating in criminal activity and plotting to overthrow the US government, so that is going to be a tough argument for Meadows to make.