Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is rolling the dice that testifying will get him his end game, reported AP News.
That end game, of course, is to get his trial out of Georgia and turned over to federal court.
If Meadows can do that, he figures he can get the case dismissed, but this case will have far wider implications than that.
Risk v. Reward
In many criminal trials, the accused will not take the stand to avoid being raked over the coals by prosecutors.
It is a major risk when they do, but this was a risk that Meadows was willing to take.
Tom Morgan, a former district attorney in DeKalb County, Georgia, stated, “It’s a calculated risk to put a defendant on the stand at any time, certainly during pre-trial motions. And usually, the calculation goes against the defendant.
“I’m absolutely amazed that he is taking the stand.”
He firmly believes that he did nothing wrong regarding January 6, and he has a very sound argument.
According to Meadows, his actions on that day, and the days leading up to it, were nothing more than his duties as Trump’s Chief of Staff.
When prosecutors hammered Meadows on taking care of personal details for Trump, he responded, “I dealt with the president’s personal position on a number of things.
“It’s still a part of my job to make sure the president is safe and secure and able to perform his job. Serving the president of the United States is what I do, to be clear,” reported CNN.
If the judge buys what Meadows is selling, the case will get moved to a federal court.
If that happens, it will take Meadows about 10 seconds to file a motion for dismissal, claiming immunity because everything he did fell within the scope of his duties as Chief of Staff.
US District Judge Steve Jones, an Obama-appointed judge, will make the call here. If he rules in Meadows’ favor, we can expect a slew of other defendants to follow this track.
Knowing his decision will impact these other cases, Jones is in no hurry to announce, stating, “If I don’t rule by September 6, then he should show up for the arraignment.”
Nothing like a wiseass judge to boost your confidence in our justice system.
