Mark Meadows, a former chief of staff in the Trump White House and a former Republican Congressman from North Carolina, was criminally charged — again — in April. This time, the case was in Arizona, and like the other case naming Meadows in Georgia, it dealt with allegations of illegally attacking the results of the 2020 presidential election, when Democratic candidate Joe Biden was victorious.
The Arizona case hinged in part on the assembling in that state of a slate of sham, pro-Trump electors after the 2020 presidential election concluded, despite Biden winning Arizona. A similar effort in Georgia also figured into the (wide-ranging) case brought there, which unlike the Arizona proceedings named Trump.
Well, Meadows was trying to move proceedings on his criminal allegations in Arizona to federal court, and a federal court has denied his push.
“Big loss for former Trump WH CoS Mark Meadows in Az, where he was trying to remove his state criminal case to federal court,” summarized legal analyst Norm Eisen.
Success in moving his proceedings to federal court could have teed up a dismissal of the proceedings altogether, as moving the proceedings out of state courts would have to hinge on showing that the disputed conduct was undertaken in Meadows’ (or another defendant’s) official capacity. Though the Georgia case from local prosecutors is mired in other disputes, Meadows also tried — also unsuccessfully! — to move his proceedings there out of the state’s courts.
At this point, Meadows still has options to appeal. The rejection came at the federal District Court level in Arizona. Among others, the Arizona criminal case also named Rudy Giuliani — former NYC mayor-turned-beleaguered Trump ally.
