Mark Meadows loses appeal seeking to move Georgia election case to federal court

Washington — A federal appeals court rejected a bid by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to move the state election interference charges against him in Georgia to federal court. 

A three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by a district judge in September who said Meadows must fight the charges in state court because he did not demonstrate that his alleged conduct was related to his official duties in the Trump administration.

Writing for the court, Chief Judge William Pryor said in a 35-page opinion Monday that a statute allowing federal officials to move their case to federal court from state court "does not apply to former officers."