RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Arguing that he was acting in an official capacity as a federal officer, while serving as Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, on Monday, a federal judge will consider Mark Meadows’ request for his case to be moved to federal court.
However, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis argues the charges the former North Carolina congressman faces stem from his actions as a campaign advisor during an alleged attempt to overturn Georgia’s presidential election results.
Shane Stansbury is currently a Duke Law lecturer as well as a former Assistant United States Attorney. Stansbury said part of Meadows’ strategy may be that he thinks a federal judge and jury could be more favorable. But a ruling to move the trial would not make it a federal case.
“Simply because the case gets moved to federal court, if he’s successful, doesn’t mean that the state prosecutors go away,” Stansbury said. “The case would be tried in federal court before a federal judge pursuant to federal rules, but he would still be prosecuted under state law by state prosecutors. So, Fani Willis is not going away.”
Sidney Powell is another North Carolinian who has been charged and booked. Powell grew up in Raleigh and received her law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill. Powell served alongside Rudy Giuliani as an attorney for Donald Trump while he challenged the outcome of the 2020 election. She has filed a motion for a speedy trial.
“The allegation is that she led this effort to illegally access and remove computer voting data from the Coffee County Board of Elections. Which adds an interesting flavor to this case, and so she sits in a different position than some of the other defendants,” said Stansbury.
As allowed under Georgia law, co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro requested a speedy trial. It was granted and the trial is now set for Oct. 23. Chesebro is one of the lawyers who allegedly played a central role in developing the idea of having false electors from states won by President Biden, including Georgia.
“Now we can speculate as to why he may have filed that motion. It may be to force the DA to rush to trial, potentially without having the benefit of greater preparation. Maybe there are people that ultimately will cooperate and may be pointing the finger at him, and maybe he wants to race to avoid that,” Stansbury said.
He added, “It may be that the longer the case goes on, you may have multiple co-defendants who are pleading guilty and cooperating. But all of those people will be making their own calculations, so he’s clearly made the calculation for himself that it’s best to rush to trial as soon as possible.”
It remains to be seen whether Meadows, if he fails to have his trial moved to federal court, will join that request.
