Appeals court rejects Mark Meadows' bid to move Georgia case to federal court: Live – The Independent

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Former Trump chief of staff attempted to move his election interference to federal court in the hope that it would benefit his case
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A US Appeals Court has ruled that the Georgia case of former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows must remain in state court.
Mr Meadows had hoped to move his election interference case to federal court in the hope that it would benefit his case.
Chief Judge William Pryor of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit wrote in a ruling that “The district court held an evidentiary hearing and then remanded because Meadows’s charged conduct was not performed under color of his federal office. Because federal-officer removal … does not apply to former federal officers, and even if it did, the events giving rise to this criminal action were not related to Meadows’s official duties, we affirm”.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been branded “disgusting” and “worse by the day” by Republican rival Chris Christie after claiming during a rally address in New Hampshire on Saturday night that immigrants were “poisoning the blood of the country” and quoting favourably remarks made by Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban.
Mr Trump was also rebuked by the White House for “echoing the grotesque rhetoric of fascists and violent white supremacists” and “threatening to oppress those who disagree with the government.”
Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is emerging as a strong Republican alternative to Donald Trump, with new polling from New Hampshire showing Ms Haley getting a boost of support from potential voters.
In a CBS News/YouGov poll of potential Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, 29 per cent said they’d vote for Ms Haley compared to 44 per cent who said they would for Mr Trump.
The numbers reflect potential voters’ changing opinion of Ms Haley, who in November had 18 per cent in an Emerson College/WHDH poll of New Hampshire voters compared to Mr Trump, who had 49 per cent.
The new results from CBS News and YouGov come nearly a week after New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu endorsed Ms Haley for 2024 president.
It indicates that while the former president remains the frontrunner of the party, Ms Haley is catching up to him heading into primary season.
A US Appeals Court has ruled that the Georgia case of former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows must remain in state court.
Mr Meadows had hoped to move his election interference case to federal court in the hope that it would benefit his case.
Chief Judge William Pryor of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit wrote in a ruling that “After a Fulton County grand jury indicted Meadows for conspiring to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, Meadows filed a notice to remove the action to the Northern District of Georgia”.
“The district court held an evidentiary hearing and then remanded because Meadows's charged conduct was not performed under color of his federal office. Because federal-officer removal … does not apply to former federal officers, and even if it did, the events giving rise to this criminal action were not related to Meadows's official duties, we affirm,” he added.
You might need a strong stomach for this one but here’s a timely end of year roundup from the Indy TV team.
From unhinged behavior to history-making mugshots, The Independent has taken its pick of 2023’s top political moments caught on camera. The year started with Kevin McCarthy‘s speakership win after 15 rounds of voting. This paved the way for many unpredictable Congress moments. Who could forget Republican Richard Hudson asking TikTok’s CEO if the app could access home WiFi? The GOP debates also provided great viral material, including whether Ron DeSantis’s shoes had heels or not. If 2023 is anything to go by, who knows what 2024 holds for US politics?
The former secretary of state and first lady has mocked the Republican for his deference towards Russian despot Vladimir Putin, reviving a particular word she used to get under his skin in their final presidential debate in 2016.
Gustaf Kilander has the details.
‘It’s pretty clear you won’t admit the Russians have engaged in cyberattacks against the United States of America, that you encouraged espionage against our people, that you are willing to spout the Putin-line,’ Clinton said in 2016
Melania Trump delivered remarks at a naturalisation ceremony at the National Archives in Washington, DC, on Friday, a rare – and ironic – public speaking appearance from the former first lady, whose husband is accused of withholding government documents from the very same agency.
Her appearance comes in the middle of a federal criminal case targeting Trump and his allegedly illegal retention of Archives documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, where Ms Trump also lives.
He has also repeatedly attacked the institution and baselessly accused the archivists and civil servants of corruption and conspiracies against him, following a protracted effort to get him to return the documents in his possession.
The redoubtable Alex Woodward has this one.
She gave a speech at the National Archives after her husband’s attacks over the Mar-a-Lago case

Another one you might have missed earlier, here’s one of the weirder proclamations from Trump’s Reno speech last night.
Political observers were quick to point out several of the more ignominious episodes from Mr Trump’s one-term presidency – and a few notable phone calls that have since landed him in legal trouble
In case you missed it earlier, Trump called the defendants charged in connection with the events of January 6 “hostages” at his New Hampshire rally on Saturday, just days after federal prosecutors warned that they intend to use his endorsement of their alleged actions in a sprawling criminal case against him.
Trump has offered financial support and pledged to pardon people convicted on charges connected to the attack and has embraced the “January 6 Choir”, a group of defendants who remain in a DC jail for crimes that, according to federal prosecutors, “were so violent that their pretrial release would pose a danger to the public”.
According to a recent filing from Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, his team is relying on his well-documented support for rioters as evidence in the election conspiracy case to argue that he knew what would happen if he failed to stop the mob from breaching the Capitol to stop the certification of the 2020 election results.
Here’s more from Andrew Feinberg.
Prosecutors intend to use Mr Trump’s offers of pardons for convicted rioters to demonstrate how he signals that ‘the law does not apply to those who act at his urging’
An aide to a Democratic senator from Maryland is out of a job following the leak of a graphic video that hit Washington like a freight train over the weekend.
On Friday evening, the rightwing blog Daily Caller published a video appearing to show two men engaged in sexual intercourse, which the site reported to have originally been posted in a private group chat among gay men in DC politics.
The video (and the sexual act depicted) appeared to have taken place in room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building — a hearing chamber used by the Judiciary Committee that has witnessed debates about Supreme Court justices and other prominent work of the panel.
One of the gentlemen involved has now left his job.
John Bowden has the details.
‘We will have no further comment on this personnel matter,’ US senator’s office says
One of Trump’s former staffers claims the former president may “turn off the internet” if he is re-elected.
Miles Taylor, a former chief of staff at Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, made the claim during an appearance on MSNBC.
Taylor was asked what kind of damage Trump could potentially do if he were re-elected to the Oval Office in 2024.
“The possibilities are almost limitless,” he answered. “The biggest concerns for me are on the national security side. I think Americans still don’t understand the full extent of the president’s powers and things Donald Trump could do, bubble-wrapped in legalese, that would be damaging to the republic.”
He claimed that the former president could “invoke powers we’ve never heard a president of the United States invoke”, which include decisions to “potentially shut down companies or turn off the internet, or deploy the US military on US soil”.
Graig Graziosi has more.
Miles Taylor says he worries former president would weaponise his powers during a second term
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Former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows talks with NBC News’ Ali Vitali as he leads a private tour through Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol on October 10, 2023 in Washington, DC
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