Sept. 16 (UPI) — Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff during the Trump administration, has lost his bid to move his 2020 election subversion case from Arizona to federal court due to a missed deadline, a judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge John Tuchi said Meadows “failed to show good cause that might permit the court to excuse the untimeliness” after he missed the deadline to file his request.
In February, Meadows lost a bid for a hearing in an effort to move his election interference charges in Georgia to federal court. Meadows has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Meadows, who was White House chief of staff from March 31, 2020, to January 20, 2021, has argued his status as a federal official requires a federal trial instead of the state-level trial filed against him and others in both Georgia and Arizona. Moving the criminal cases to federal court would make it easier to have the charges dismissed.
“The state’s charged conduct is unrelated to Mr. Meadow’s official duties,” Tuchi wrote in Monday’s 15-page ruling. “Although the court credited Mr. Meadow’s theory that the Chief of Staff is responsible for acting as the president’s gatekeeper, that conclusion does not create a causal nexus between Mr. Meadow’s official authority and the charged conduct.”
Meadows has been accused of working with Trump campaign workers to submit fake electors to make it appear former President Donald Trump won Arizona in 2020, despite the state narrowly going to Joe Biden.
Meadows is one of 18 people, who were charged in April in connection with the scheme to overturn the Arizona election in favor of Trump. Meadows’ trial is scheduled for Oct. 31. Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, who was arraigned in Maricopa County in May, also pleaded not guilty with his trial also scheduled for October.
On Monday, the judge criticized Meadows for trying to rewrite the state’s indictment against him.
“Contrary to Mr. Meadow’s assertions, the state has not indicted Mr. Meadows for merely facilitating communication to and from the president or for simply staying abreast of campaign goings-on,” Tuchi wrote. “Instead, the state has indicted Mr. Meadows for allegedly orchestrating and participating in an illegal electioneering scheme.”