WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to let former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows move the election interference case against him in Georgia to federal court, where he would have argued he was immune from prosecution.
The justices did not detail their reasoning in a brief order denying his appeal, as is typical. There were no publicly noted dissents.
Meadows was one of 19 people indicted in Georgia and accused of participating in an illegal scheme to keep then-president Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election. Trump was also charged, though after he won reelection last week to a second term any trial appears unlikely, at least while he holds office. Both men have denied wrongdoing.
Attorney George Terwilliger said Meadows will continue to assert his innocence in state court, and expects to win an exoneration.
It’s unclear what effect the election results could have on others charged in the case, which is largely on hold after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case.
Meadows had gone to the Supreme Court in an effort to move the charges out of Georgia courts. He argues the case belongs in federal court because it relates to his duties as a federal official. He pointed to the Supreme Court ruling giving Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution to support his argument.
“A White House chief of staff facing criminal charges based on actions relating to his work for the president of the United States should not be a close call —especially now that this court has recognized that federal immunity impacts what evidence can be considered, not just what conduct can form the basis for liability,” his attorneys wrote.
But prosecutors said that Meadows failed to show he was carrying out official duties during the alleged scheme, which included participating in a phone call where Trump suggested Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger could help “find” votes he needed to win the state.
They argued the case should stay with Georgia courts, and Meadows can raise federal defenses there. Prosecutors also pushed back against the contention that the charges could have ripple effects on other federal officials.
“His references to the overheated words of opinion editorials cannot suffice to demonstrate that a new era of ubiquitous prosecution of former federal officials is at hand,” government attorneys wrote.
A spokesperson for Willis declined to comment on Tuesday's Supreme Court decision.
A U.S. district judge and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled that the case against Meadows and some of his co-defendants should remain in state court. A federal judge has also refused to move an Arizona fake elector case against him there to federal court.
Four people have already pleaded guilty in the Georgia election case after reaching deals with prosecutors. The remaining 15, including Trump and Meadows, have pleaded not guilty.
Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this story.
FILE - White House chief of staff Mark Meadows speaks with reporters outside the White House, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s embattled president apologized Saturday for public anxiety caused by his short-lived attempt to impose martial law hours ahead of a parliamentary vote on impeaching him.
President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a brief televised address Saturday morning he won’t shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promised not to make another attempt to impose it. He said he would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country's political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office."
“The declaration of his martial law was made out of my desperation. But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologize to the people who must have been shocked a lot,” Yoon said.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon, a conservative, has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife. In his martial law announcement on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.”
A National Assembly vote on an opposition-led motion to impeach Yoon is set for Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether the motion would get the two-thirds needed to pass. The opposition parties that jointly brought the impeachment motion control 192 of the legislature's 300 seats, meaning they need at least eight additional votes from Yoon's conservative People Power Party.
That appeared more likely after the chair of Yoon's party called for his removal on Friday, but the party remained formally opposed to impeachment.
If Yoon is impeached, his powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office. If he is removed, an election to replace him must take place within 60 days.
The turmoil resulting from Yoon’s bizarre and poorly-thought-out stunt has paralyzed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners, including neighboring Japan and Seoul’s top ally the United States, as one of the strongest democracies in Asia faces a political crisis that could unseat its leader.
Tuesday night saw special forces troops encircling the parliament building and army helicopters hovering over it, but the military withdrew after the National Assembly unanimously voted to overturn the decree, forcing Yoon to lift it before daybreak Wednesday. The declaration of martial law was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea.
Since then, thousands of people have protested in the streets of Seoul, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing and singing along to K-pop songs with lyrics changed to call for Yoon’s ouster. Smaller groups of Yoon’s supporters rallied near the National Assembly Friday, holding signs that read “We oppose unconstitutional impeachment."
Opposition lawmakers say that Yoon’s attempt at martial law amounted to a self-coup and drafted the impeachment motion around rebellion charges.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, told reporters that Yoon’s speech was “greatly disappointing” and that the only way forward is his immediate resignation or impeachment.
Parliament said Saturday that it would meet at 5 p.m. It will first vote on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate influence peddling allegations surrounding Yoon’s wife, and then on impeaching Yoon.
It's not clear if members of Yoon's PPP will break ranks to vote for impeachment. Eighteen lawmakers from a minority faction of the party joined the unanimous vote to cancel martial law, which passed 190-0. However, the party has decided to oppose the impeachment.
Experts say the PPP fears Yoon's impeachment and possible removal from office would leave the conservatives in disarray and easily losing a presidential by-election to liberals.
On Friday, PPP chair Han Dong-hun, who also heads the minority faction that helped cancel martial law, called for suspending Yoon’s constitutional powers, describing him as unfit to hold the office and capable of taking more extreme actions. But Han is not a lawmaker and the party's position remains anti-impeachment.
Han said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law Yoon ordered the country’s defense counterintelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities."
Following Yoon’s televised address, Han reiterated his call for him to step down, saying that the president wasn’t in a state where he could normally carry out official duties. “President Yoon Suk Yeol’s early resignation is inevitable,” Han told reporters.
Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, later told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that Yoon called after imposing martial law and ordered him to help the defense counterintelligence unit to detain key politicians. The targeted politicians included Han, Lee and National Assembly speaker Woo Won Shik, according to Kim Byung-kee, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.
The Defense Ministry said it had suspended the defense counterintelligence commander, Yeo In-hyung, who Han alleged had received orders from Yoon to detain the politicians. The ministry also suspended the commanders of the capital defense command and the special warfare command over their involvement in enforcing martial law.
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who has been accused of recommending Yoon to enforce martial law, has been placed under a travel ban and faces an investigation by prosecutors over rebellion charges.
Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho has testified to parliament that it was Kim Yong Hyun who ordered troops to be deployed to the National Assembly after Yoon imposed martial law.
A man passes by screens showing the broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Yongsan Electronic store in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (South Korean Presidential Office/Yonhap via AP)
People watch TV screens showing the broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at a Yongsan Electronic store in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A man watches TV screens showing the broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at a Yongsan Electronic store in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A woman watches a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A man watches a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A protester holds banner and shouts slogans against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
In this image made from a video, An Gwiryeong, front right, confronts one of the soldiers as parliamentarians scrambled to get inside the National Assembly building to reverse martial law, in Seoul Dec. 4, 2024. (YONHAP NEWS TV via AP)
A supporter of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
A vendor sells LED lights at a protest rally against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol near the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol chant slogans outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Protesters against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol gather outside the ruling People Power Party headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Vehicles are parked on the lawn of the National Assembly to prevent helicopters from landing due to concerns of any possible additional acts following the President's short-lived martial law declaration at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
