Mark Meadows Has An 'Insurmountable' Problem With His Georgia Case

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows may have hit a wall in his attempt to remove his Georgia election conspiracy case to federal court.

In a column for Just Security, ethics expert Walter Shaub, legal expert Norman Eisen, and former Senate Judiciary Committee law clerk Joshua Kolb said Meadows was unlikely to succeed in his bid because of a provision in the Hatch Act.

Federal District Court Judge Steve C. Jones is expected to hear Meadows' motion for removal on Monday. Meadows has been charged in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

"Even though the legal hurdle is low and the law is favorable to federal officers, Meadows faces a seemingly insurmountable barrier," the authors write. "In their briefs before Judge Jones, Meadows' lawyers have remarkably conceded that 'all the substantive allegations in the Indictment concern unquestionably political activity.' In the context of these charges, that should be fatal to Meadows' claim for removal."

Meadows must show that he acted "under authority of federal law in the discharge of his duty and only by reason thereof," according to existing case law.

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