Mark Meadows Loses Case To Move Georgia RICO Case to Federal Jurisdiction

By Rick Martin Dec 18 2023, 21:17 PM EST

It looks like Donald Trump would not be able to pardon Mark Meadows should he win back the presidency in 2024 as an appeals court struck down his bid to move his RICO case, where he is a co-defendant of the former president from the jurisdiction of Georgia to a federal one.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by a lower federal district court which rejected the former Trump chief of staff's bid to transfer the case from Fulton County Superior Court. This rejection also dashes Donald Trump's hopes of pardoning himself for his alleged crimes in Georgia, as presidents cannot pardon crimes done at the state level, only crimes done at the federal level.

Meadows is one of the many co-defendants charged alongside Donald Trump in the sprawling Georgia RICO case that investigates the former president's actions in trying to overturn the results of the election in that state. He is charged with criminally conspiring with Donald Trump and others to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia to the actual winner, Joe Biden, according to CNBC.

The three-judge panel in Atlanta ruled that Mark Meadows is not protected by a law protecting an officer of the United States from having to answer for his official conduct in state court as he is already a former officer.

Judge Panel Rules Mark Meadows's Actions Are Not Part of His Duties as Donald Trump's Chief of Staff

In his ruling as to why Meadows lost his case, Circuit Chief Judge William Pryor wrote that the law "does not apply to former federal officers, and even if it did, the events giving rise to this criminal action were not related to Meadows's official duties."

According to the Associated Press, Meadows tried to get a broader jury pool than from Fulton County, Georgia, which is known to be overwhelmingly Democratic. Moving to a federal court would have also meant that Meadows would not get a trial that would not be photographed or televised, as cameras are usually not allowed inside federal courtrooms.

There are 19 co-defendants in total for the sprawling RICO case against Donald Trump and his associates. Four of them have already pleaded guilty, including three high-profile ones in Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, and the mastermind of the fake electors scheme, Kenneth Chesebro. Meanwhile, the other 15, including Donald Trump, Mark Meadows, and Rudy Giuliani, have all pleaded "Not Guilty."

Mark Meadows Could Still Bring Case to the Supreme Court

While the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Mark Meadows, Donald Trump's former chief of staff can still take the case and appeal to the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court.

For now, however, Politico noted that his ruling from the 11th Circuit will be keeping Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' racketeering prosecution of Trump, Meadows, and others on track.

Other co-defendants, including former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, are also trying to appeal their cases to be moved from Georgia to a federal jurisdiction.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Appeals court denies Mark Meadows' attempt to move Georgia election case to federal court - 11Alive