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Mark Meadows suffered a devastating loss this week when a federal appeals court panel smacked down his attempt to remove his Georgia state criminal case to federal court. But the ruling wasn’t only bad news for the former Donald Trump White House chief of staff; it also suggests a similar fate for any other co-defendants seeking removal, and the logic of the opinion undercuts Trump’s immunity claims as well.
As a reminder, on Monday the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave two reasons that Meadows couldn’t remove his case: 1) the law at issue doesn’t apply to former federal officers like Meadows, and 2) even if it did, the events giving rise to the state election subversion charges against him weren’t related to his official duties.
If that ruling stands — and Meadows could challenge it on further appeal up through the Supreme Court — that would seem to similarly thwart attempts from any co-defendants who have also sought removal, namely former Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark and GOP "fake electors" David Shafer, Shawn Still and Cathy Latham. Though Trump has said he isn’t seeking removal, the opinion’s reasoning would apply to him, too.
And even though the 11th Circuit opinion is about removal, not immunity, its logic rejecting Meadows’ broad claim that his actions related to his official duties bodes ill for Trump, who claims he’s immune from prosecution for actions taken during his presidency. That’s true not only for any such defenses Trump presses in the Georgia state prosecution but also in his federal election interference case, where his immunity claim is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and may be headed to the Supreme Court as well.
So the Meadows removal rejection may have the effect of keeping Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ case on track, both in keeping it in state court and in effectively knocking down defenses to the prosecution itself.
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