Former Trump White House lawyer says he doesn’t think Meadows case will be moved

Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb said Tuesday that while former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows has the “most credible” argument to move his Georgia election interference case to federal court, it is unlikely to be moved.

“I don’t believe so,” Cobb said on CNN’s “Burnett OutFront” when asked if Meadows would get his case moved. “But remember, my position has always been, he has the most credible case of all the potential federal defendants who are trying — seeking to do this.”

Meadows has asked U.S. District Judge Steve Jones to let him switch courts in an attempt to get the charges tossed on immunity grounds, arguing the actions he took are protected as a federal worker. Meadows and his 18-co-defendants, including former President Trump, are charged with racketeering alongside other allegations in connection to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

Four other defendants are also looking to move their cases: Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official; David Shafer, a fake elector and former Georgia Republican Party chairman; Shawn Still, now a sitting state senator; and Cathy Latham, the then-chairwoman of the Coffee County, Ga., Republican Party.

Cobb, who served in the White House for about 10 months beginning in July 2017, said that it will be a “tough road” for Meadows to get his case moved, noting that the former chief of staff made “significant concessions” in his motion, including conceding that many of the activities he participated in were political and outside his chief-of-staff duties.

He also said it would be easier to try all 19 co-defendants together — like what Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) has proposed — but said they will likely be divided due to Georgia’s Speedy Trial Act, which is “stricter” than the federal counterpart.

“I’ve tried cases [of] conspiracy, RICO, continuing criminal enterprise cases when I was a prosecutor was upwards of 28 defendants,” he said. “And that’s very manageable. It requires careful attention from the judge. But it can be it can be done.”

“But the speedy trial act will force a division of defendants because, just like they have a right to a speedy trial, they also have a right to pull discovery, time to digest the documents,” he said. “And you know, that’s what the Trump team is arguing, which is, we have we need time to prepare for this trial.”