Meadows was indicted in August along with Trump and 17 others on charges of illegally conspiring to thwart Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia. After pleading not guilty, Meadows sought to move his case to federal court, seeking immunity under a federal law that allows legal cases against federal officials to be moved from state to federal court.
A three-judge appeals court panel heard oral arguments on Meadows’ appeal on Friday. Chief Judge William Pryor and Judges Robin Rosenbaum and Nancy Abudu appeared to be skeptical of Meadows’ claim that his actions outlined in the Fulton County indictment were tied to his official government duties.
In a 49-page opinion written by Pryor on Monday, the court ruled that the federal expungement statute “does not apply to former federal officials, even if it did, because the events leading up to this crime were not related to Meadows’ official duties.”
“Although Meadows was an ‘official,’ his participation in the conspiracy to disrupt the presidential election was not related to his official duties,” Pryor wrote, according to U.S. District Judge Steve C. confirmed Jones’ earlier decision. Try.
Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Meadows has the option to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court.
The decision is another legal setback for Meadows, one of five defendants who tried to move their cases out of state court. Four others — former Justice Department officials Jeffrey Clarke and Kathy Latham, David Shaffer and Shawn Still, Georgia Republicans who served as Trump voters — are pending appeals in the 11th Circuit after lower courts rejected their removal requests.
The appeals court’s decision was followed by Fulton County District Attorney Fannie D. It marks another legal victory for Willis (D), who has sued Trump and his associates and is seeking to try all 15 remaining defendants in the case in a single trial beginning in August. .
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