Judge Rules Trump Prosecutor CAN Arrest Meadows After Blistering Response
Federal District Court Judge Steven Jones denied a request from former Trump chief of staff and current co-defendant Mark Meadows that he be exempted from arrest.
Meadows is a key witness in several of the cases against Trump, and a co-defendant in the new indictment of Trump on 13 counts related to election crimes. DA Willis gave Trump and the 18 co-defendants named in the indictment until August 25 to surrender for arrest and arraignment, and on Tuesday denied Meadows attorney John Moran’s request for an extension.
“At 12:30 pm on Friday I shall file warrants in the system,” DA Willis wrote.
Judge Jones — who was appointed by President Barack Obama — has now denied Moran’s end-run around Willis after a blistering response in a filing by Fulton County Chief Senior Assistant District Attorney F. McDonald Wakeford. The response concluded with the revelation an arrest warrant has already been issued for Meadows:
(T)he defendant has failed to demonstrate he has suffered irreparable harm warranting federal intervention in his case and has cited no authority authorizing this Court to prevent his lawful arrest. The hardship facing the defendant is no different than any other criminal defendant charged with a crime, including his co-defendants who have either already surrendered to Fulton County Authorities or have agreed to so surrender in the time allotted by the District Attorney. Additionally, the Superior Court of Fulton County has already issued an arrest warrant for the defendant and the Court is not authorized to enjoin such action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2283. Accordingly, this Court should DISMISS or DENY the Defendant’s motion, as appropriate.
In his order, Judge Jones addresses the request to be shielded from arrest, and dismisses it:
Meadows alternatively requests that the Court enjoin District Attorney Fani Willis from enforcing the arrest warrant against him until after the August 28 evidentiary hearing. Doc. No. [17], 9–16. The Court denies this request. While Meadows’s imminent arrest may present an actual injury, there are strong countervailing reasons to not enjoin the state criminal proceedings (e.g., abstention doctrines and principles of federalism). Section 1455 reinforces this conclusion by clearly requiring state criminal proceedings continue until the federal court has assumed jurisdiction and notified the state court
The judge issued an order denying a similar request from former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark.
