Donald Trump speaks as then White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows listens from the South Lawn of the White House in July 2020 (Alex Wong/Getty Images).
Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows failed to persuade a judge Monday that his Arizona fake electors prosecution should be moved to federal court, falling short for lateness and on the “merits” of his immunity-focused claims.
U.S. District Judge John Tuchi wrote that Meadows blew past a statutory deadline, 18 days late filed his notice of removal, and did not have “good cause” for doing so. The judge rejected the argument that Meadows’ waiting to file in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling in Trump v. United States was a reason to delay.
“Mr. Meadows’s second reason for missing the unambiguous deadline set forth in § 1455(b)(1) fares no better. He asserts he waited to file his Notice of Removal because he anticipated the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump could bear on his immunity defense, and upon its issuance, he argues, it does so bear. But again, that was no reason to miss the deadline to file his Notice of Removal,” the judge began. “Perhaps the Supreme Court’s holding in Trump does strengthen Mr. Meadow’s claim and perhaps it does not—that question will remain until it is taken up in the context of a possible motion to dismiss his case filed in the proper forum.”
