Donald Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has seen a bid to get his Georgia election subversion case moved to federal court rejected by a judge.
It could be a bad sign for the former president who on Thursday notified the judge overseeing the sprawling racketeering case in Fulton County that he “may” also try to move it to federal court.
Mr Meadows was the first of five of the 19 defendants in the RICO case to file motions to have the venue of the case changed from Georgia state court.
He argued unsuccessfully that the case should be moved because the allegations against him are connected to his official duties while working for the four-times indicted former president at the White House.
US District Court Judge Steve Jones stated in his decision that Mr Meadows had failed to even meet the “quite low threshold for removal” to federal court as his activities on behalf of the Trump campaign were not linked to his federal employment as White House chief of staff.
“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 wrote in his decision, which was released on Friday.
Mark Meadows was Donald Trump’s last White House chief of staff— (Getty Images)
“Thus, consistent with his testimony and the federal statutes and regulations, engaging in political activities is exceeds the outer limits of the Office of the White House Chief of Staff.”
Mr Trump has been charged along with 18 others, including Mr Meadows and Rudy Giuliani, in Fulton County, Georgia, for plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state. Mr Trump faces 13 felony charges in the RICO case
