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The judge overseeing Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis’ cases against former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen other defendants has granted a pretrial delay to his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and a few others.
Meadows is attempting to have his case moved to a federal court, where he believes a jury pool will be more favorable to him than in Democrat-heavy Atlanta, which falls within Fulton County. Trump at first considered a similar move but has since decided to leave the case where it is.
Four defendants have taken plea deals, and the rest, including Trump, are scheduled for trial in August 2024.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee announced in an order last week that Meadows and the others could delay their pretrial motions from Jan. 8 to Feb. 5, the Washington Examiner reported.
The order applies to Meadows, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, and former Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party David Shafer.
The ruling comes as Meadows is preparing to appear before a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Friday regarding his attempt to transfer his case to federal court. This comes after a district court judge rejected that effort earlier this year.
The Examiner noted further: Meadows is seeking to overturn a September ruling by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones that found the former chief of staff exceeded his role by working directly with Trump’s campaign over the former president’s bid to undo his loss to President Joe Biden in the Peach State.
Jones similarly denied an effort by Clark, a former assistant attorney general in the Trump administration, to move his case to federal court on Sept. 29. The judge held that Clark’s role in drafting a letter that raised concerns about election fraud was not within “the gamut of his federal office.” Shafer’s effort was also rejected that day, along with efforts by former Coffee County GOP Chairwoman Cathy Latham and state Sen. Shawn Still.
Meadows and other litigants who want to move their cases may believe that the federal courts offer a better chance of obtaining a more favorable jury pool that is unaffected by the Democratic-leaning Fulton County. Additionally, a transfer to federal court would prevent their cases from being televised, as all Fulton County court proceedings are live-streamed.
Depending on the outcome of Meadows’ appeal, the party that doesn’t prevail may opt to seek a review of his request by the full 11th Circuit or potentially appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Initially, Trump was expected to also seek to remove his case to a federal court but has instead chosen to remain in McAfee’s court.
Earlier this month, Georgia’s Supreme Court declined to approve the rules for a new commission to discipline and remove state prosecutors, effectively putting the commission on hold.
Some Georgia Republicans want the new commission to discipline or remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for prosecuting Trump and the others after accusing her of being politically motivated.
In an unsigned order, the justices expressed “grave doubts” about their ability to regulate district attorneys’ duties beyond the practice of law. They claimed that because lawmakers had not explicitly ordered the justices to act, they were refusing to rule either way.
“If district attorneys exercise judicial power, our regulation of the exercise of that power may well be within our inherent power as the head of the Judicial Branch,” justices wrote. “But if district attorneys exercise only executive power, our regulation of the exercise of that power would likely be beyond the scope of our judicial power.”
