Tipsheet

Mark Meadows Is Looking for a Last Minute Assist to Avoid Arrest

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  August 22, 2023 8:30 PM

Last Tuesday, Mark Meadows submitted a motion of removal when it comes to the indictment brought against Donald Trump, himself, and 17 other co-defendant out of Fulton County. He's looking to have the charges against him moved to federal court, and ultimately dismissed. Meadows had served as his chief of staff for Trump at the time of the 2020 election. Meadows' attorneys are now making another request as he looks to avoid arrest later this week. 

A request from this Tuesday, filed in the Northern District of Georgia, just as the one from last week was, reads in part that Meadows "hereby moves for the Court 'promptly' to permit removal and 'so notify the State court,' 28 U.S.C. § 1455(b)(5), without a hearing and before Noon on Friday, August 25, 2023, in order to protect Mr. Meadows from arrest prior to this Court’s upcoming hearing on removal."  

Another option that Meadows' attorney bring up would be to prohibit Fulton County DA Fani Williams from having Meadows arrested before the Monday hearing.

In covering Meadows' request, reporting from POLITICO discusses emails between Willis and Meadows' attorneys, as the DA refuses to grand the request:

Meadows’ urgency was sparked by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ rejection of his request to delay his arrest until [U.S. District Court Judge Steven] Jones has a chance to make a ruling, expected next week.

“I am not granting any extensions,” Willis wrote in an email to Meadows’ attorneys Tuesday morning. “I gave 2 weeks for people to surrender themselves to the court. Your client is no different than any other criminal defendant in this jurisdiction. The two weeks was a tremendous courtesy.”

“At 12:30 pm on Friday I shall file warrants in the system,” Willis added.

Willis’ firm deadline puts Meadows in a race against the clock. He has urged Jones to quickly determine that he is immune from the Georgia prosecution by virtue of his federal role. Jones quickly agreed to hold a hearing on the matter, setting an evidentiary session for Aug. 28. Meadows indicated in his Tuesday court filing that Willis refused to delay the timeline to accommodate the federal hearing.

Those gleeful about the indictment appear to be particularly delighted about how Willis' signed her emails, "Yours in Service," which is currently trending, along with "Mark Meadows."

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Meadows' filing highlights Willis' stubbornness in refusing to grant any kind of a request, given that it is the difference of one business day. 

"District Attorney Fani Willis has made clear that she intends to arrest Mr. Meadows before this Court’s Monday hearing and has rejected out of hand a reasonable request to defer one business day until after this Court’s hearing," the filing reads with original emphasis. "Absent this Court’s intervention, Mr. Meadows will be denied the protection from arrest that federal law affords former federal officials, and this Court’s prompt but orderly consideration of removal will be frustrated."

Just as Meadows' previous filing mentioned, he once more looks to the Supremacy Clause, in that it, with original emphasis, "protects federal officials from being 'arrested and brought to trial in a State court,'" citing the Tennessee v. Davis case. 

As the POLITICO report mentions, other co-defendants, including former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark and former Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer have also asked U.S. District Court Judge Steven Jones to grant relief. 

"Trump himself has yet to try to remove his case to federal court, but he’s widely expected to pursue the gambit as well," the report mentions. The former and potentially future president announced over a TruthSocial post on Monday that he plans to turn himself in on Thursday, in time before the Friday deadline at noon.

The House Judiciary GOP Twitter account retweeted POLITICO's Kyle Cheney sharing the emails, with the committee adding that Willis is "unhinged" and arguing that Meadows' attorney has made "reasonable requests."