Meadows seeks to block arrest as he tries to move Georgia charges to federal court

Mark Meadows, the former Trump White House chief of staff, asked a federal judge Tuesday to block his arrest over Georgia election charges as he tries to move his case to federal court. 

In a court filing Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Meadows’s lawyers filed an emergency motion for either an immediate ruling on moving his case to federal court or for an order to prohibit Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from seeking his arrest if he does not surrender to the Fulton County jail by Friday at noon, the deadline Willis set. 

“District Attorney Fani Willis has made clear that she intends to arrest Mr. Meadows before this Court’s Monday hearing and has rejected out of hand a reasonable request to defer one business day until after this Court’s hearing,” the filings said. 

Later Tuesday, a judge ordered Willis to respond to Meadows’s requests in writing by 3 p.m. Wednesday.

A federal judge ordered a hearing for Monday over Meadows’s request to move his case.

The court documents’ exhibit includes an email exchange Tuesday morning between Meadows’s attorney — John Moran — and Willis, in which Willis said she is not “granting any extensions.” 

“Your client is no different than any other criminal defendant in this jurisdiction. The two weeks was a tremendous courtesy,” she wrote in the email. “At 12:30 p.m., I shall file warrants in the system.” 

Meadows and 18 co-defendants, including former President Trump, were charged last week in Georgia for an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. 

Shortly after the indictment, Meadow’s attorneys attempted to move his case to federal court and then over the weekend asked a judge to dismiss the charges against him. Meadows claims he is immune from Willis’s indictment because the accusations are connected to his role as a federal official.  

Meadows faces two charges including racketeering and solicitation of violating an oath by a public officer. Last year, the former chief of staff was ordered by a judge to speak before the Georgia special grand jury. Before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Meadows joked about false claims of voter fraud related to votes cast in the name of dead voters, The Washington Post reported.

Meadows has been largely out of the public eye since the Jan. 6 attack, amid damning testimony about his actions that day. That has led to speculation about Meadows potentially cooperating in special counsel Jack Smith’s federal investigation into Trump’s actions after he lost the 2020 election. 

At least two of the 19 co-defendants have already surrendered — former Trump lawyer John Eastman and Scott Hall, a bail bond business owner.

Trump said Monday evening he plans to turn himself in Thursday, the day after the first GOP presidential debate, which he has said he will skip.