Fani Willis Rules Out Surrender Deadline Extension For Mark Meadows
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Tuesday rejected a request by indicted former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to have his voluntary surrender deadline deferred in order to allow a court to first rule on his motion to get his case moved to federal court.
Meadows was one of the 18 people charged alongside former President Donald Trump for participating in a scheme to undo Joe Biden’s 2020 election win in Georgia. Willis has set a deadline for Friday for defendants to turn themselves in.
“I am not granting any extensions,” Willis wrote back to Meadows’ lawyers, according to a court filing. “I gave 2 weeks for people to surrender themselves to the court. Your client is no different than any other criminal defendant in this jurisdiction. The two weeks was a tremendous courtesy. At 12:30 pm on Friday I shall file warrants in the system. ”
A judge has set a hearing Monday for Meadows’ request. But the former White House chief of staff is asking the court to either move his case immediately to federal court or prevent Willis from arresting him before Monday’s proceeding.
“That short-term, modest relief would prevent the irreparable loss of Mr. Meadows’s rights under federal law and allow this Court to consider the merits of removal in an orderly fashion without any substantial prejudice to the State of Georgia,” John Moran, Meadows’ laywer, wrote.
Meadows was indicted on two charges: violation of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and solicitation of violation of oath by public officer.
The second charge relates to Meadows’ participation in the infamous Jan. 2, 2021, call Trump made to Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger calling on him to “find 11,780 votes,” according to the indictment.
At least six defendants have already turned themselves in to Georgia authorities. Conservative lawyer John Eastman and bail bondsman Scott Hall surrendered on Tuesday and were released on bond. David Shafer and Cathy Latham, who posed as fake electors for Trump in the state, as well as attorneys Ray Smith and Kenneth Chesebro were also let go early on Wednesday following their surrender.
Trump is expected to be booked in Atlanta on Thursday.
This is Trump’s fourth indictment to date, following the criminal charges he faces for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, over his alleged mishandling of classified documents after departing the White House, and for his role in a hush money scheme involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
