(ATLANTA) — The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has given Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis one day to respond to former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ request for an emergency stay regarding his election interference case in Georgia.
Meadows on Monday requested the emergency stay after a judge on Friday rejected Meadows’ bid to have his case moved, based on a federal law that calls for 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.
Meadows and 18 others, including former President Donald Trump, have pleaded not guilty to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. The former president says his actions were not illegal and that the investigation is politically motivated.
The Eleventh Circuit, responding to Meadows’ emergency motion, ordered Willis to submit a brief responding by noon ET Wednesday.
Additionally, the court ordered both Meadows and Willis to submit briefs addressing whether the federal removal statue permits former federal officers to remove state actions to federal court, or only current federal officers.
The briefings on that question are due Wednesday afternoon for both sides.
Meadows is charged with one count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act and one count of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, for taking actions “in furtherance of the conspiracy,” according to the DA’s indictment.
His attorney, George Terwilliger, has said, “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. One would expect a Chief of Staff to the President of the United States to do these sorts of things.”
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