Ex-White House chief of staff seeks to move election interference case to federal court

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows officially filed documents Tuesday seeking to move the case brought against him by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to federal court, just a day after he was indicted together with former President Donald Trump and 17 others on charges of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.

The 14-page filing in the Northern District of Georgia from Meadows' attorney George Terwilliger and Atlanta-based attorney Joseph Englert argues that the charges in the indictment are related to his actions during the time he served in the Trump administration.

"Mr. Meadows is entitled to remove this action to federal court because the charges against him plausibly give rise to a federal defense based on his role at all relevant times as the White House Chief of Staff to the President of the United States," Meadows' attorneys wrote.

Meadows was charged with two counts Monday in a 98-page indictment following a two-year investigation led by Willis.

The sprawling indictment on Monday by a Georgia grand jury says Trump and his co-defendants, including personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, Meadows, attorneys Sidney Powell and John Eastman and others, "constituted a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in various related criminal activities."

Willis' probe was sparked by a Jan. 2, 2021 call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he urged the senior state official to "find 11,780 votes," the number he would have needed to win the battleground state. A recording of the call was later leaked to the press.

Willis' investigation went on to include a probe of fake local electors who attempted to certify fraudulent election results in Trump's favor.