Should face "hardship"

Fulton County DA Willis says Mark Meadows should face "hardship" of being booked like any other defendant

From CNN's Tierney Sneed

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told a federal court that it should not interfere in any efforts to arrest Mark Meadows, should the former White House chief of staff fail to turn himself in by Friday’s noon deadline.

In a court filing Wednesday, Willis called Meadows’ request for a federal court to intervene “improper” and “baseless.” 

“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,” Willis’ office said.

Both Meadows and Jeffrey Clark are seeking to move the state court criminal case against them to federal court, where they argue that the charges against them should be dismissed.

Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, faces two charges in the Fulton County grand jury indictment, which alleges that his participation on the January 2021 Trump call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was unlawful. Clark faces two charges stemming from his alleged efforts as a then-Justice Department official to aid Trump’s election reversal plots. 

US District Judge Steve Jones, who has been assigned both the Meadows and Clark matters, has indicated he wants to act quickly in response to the emergency orders that would allow Meadows and Clark to avoid arrest. Now that Willis has responded, Jones may act at any time.