Mark Meadows to Discover His Fate

An appeal court is to decide whether the trial of former White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, can be moved to a federal court.

If Meadows succeeds in transferring his election fraud case away from the Georgia state court, he may be able to claim immunity from prosecution.

There is intense speculation that Meadows may be quietly cooperating with prosecutors. However, if he succeeds in transferring his case, the need to cooperate could come to an end.

Donald Trump was indicted in Georgia with Meadows and 17 others for allegedly trying to illegally interfere with the 2020 presidential election.

Meadows is the first of the 19 defendants to try to transfer their case away from Georgia. A federal law, known as a "removal statute," allows an "officer of the United States" facing charges in state court to transfer the proceedings to federal court if the alleged behavior falls under their governmental duties.

Newsweek sought email comment on Wednesday from attorneys representing Trump and Meadows.

On September 8 last, a judge rejected Meadows' claim that his case should be transferred away from from the state.

Meadows is now appealing that decision to the 11th circuit appeal court and oral arguments will be heard before a three-judge panel on December 15.

Meadows, who served as Trump's White House chief of staff, is facing criminal charges of racketeering and solicitation of a violation of oath by a public officer. It follows an investigation by Atlanta District Attorney Fani Willis into the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

All 19 co-defendants, including Trump, were charged in August and all pleaded not guilty. However, four of the defendants have since taken a plea bargain and agreed to testify. The four include three attorneys who were working with Trump to allegedly overturn President Joe Biden's Georgia victory.

Meadows' charges relate to his alleged role in organizing the January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, in which the former president asked the election official to find enough votes to tilt the election in his favor, as well as his alleged involvement in the efforts to submit a false slate of pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College from Georgia.

On September 8, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, a Barack Obama appointee, ruled against Meadows' attempt at transferring his case from Georgia. Meadows himself had taken the stand to argue he should be tried in federal court because he was acting as Trump's chief of staff at the time.

Jones, however, ruled that he was working as a member of the Trump campaign, not chief of staff. Meadows was "engaging in political activities that exceeds the outer limits of the Office of the White House chief of staff," Jones ruled.