Federal judge deals blow to Mark Meadows in Arizona criminal election subversion case
A judge dealt former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows a blow on Monday, rejecting his request to move his criminal charges in Arizona to federal court.
U.S. District Judge John Tuchi wrote Monday that Meadows failed to "present good cause for his untimely filing" of his removal request, and that he failed to "demonstrate that the conduct charged in the state's prosecution relates to his former color of office as Chief of Staff to the President."
In April, an Arizona grand jury indicted 18 people on nine felony counts in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Prosecutors have said Meadows worked with the Trump campaign to "coordinate and implement the false Republican electors' votes in Arizona" and "was involved in the many efforts to keep [Trump] in power despite his defeat at the polls."
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Meadows has argued that the case ought to be moved to federal court because the allegations that he essentially facilitated communication to and from the president related to the Election was within the scope of his official duties.
But the judge wasn't buying it — and laid into the argument.
"Mr. Meadows has not so much removed the State’s indictment as rewritten it," wrote Tuchi.
"Contrary to Mr. Meadows’s assertions, the State has not indicted Mr. Meadows for merely facilitating communication to and from the President or for simply staying abreast of campaign goings-on," Tuchi added. "Instead, the State has indicted Mr. Meadows for allegedly orchestrating and participating in an illegal electioneering scheme. Few, if any, of the State’s factual allegations even resemble the secretarial duties that Mr. Meadows maintains are the subject of the indictment."
Meadows also faces charges in Georgia in the scheme to overturn the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty in both states.