Former Donald Trump aide Mark Meadows has asked the Supreme Court to move his Georgia election "conspiracy" case into federal court.
It's the latest example of the cascading effect of the Supreme Court's immunity ruling, which derailed Democratic efforts to prosecute Trump over the 2020 election.
Meadows' efforts to move his trial to federal court have been unsuccessful, so far.
An appeals court shot Meadows down last year but that was before the Supreme Court clarified that presidents have immunity from prosecution for their official acts.
The Supreme Court alluded to a chilling effect on U.S. presidents if they are exposed to prosecution for "official acts" upon leaving office.
Meadows has made similar arguments to push for his case to be moved to federal court. In his petition Friday, he doubled down, citing the Supreme Court's July ruling.
“As the Court explained … immunity exists not just to protect current officers from the distractions of litigation, but ‘to protect against the chilling effect [later legal] exposure might have on the carrying out of’ an officer’s duties,” Meadow’s lawyers wrote.
"It is hard to imagine a case in which the need for a federal forum is more pressing than one that requires resolving novel questions about the duties and powers of one of the most important federal offices in the Nation,” his lawyers added.
An appeals court rejected Meadows' federal removal claim in December, finding his charged conduct did not relate to his official functions.
In his petition to the Supreme Court, Meadows pointed to the Supreme Court's finding that immunity extends to former officeholders.
“Just as immunity protection for former officers is critical to ensuring that current and future officers are not deterred from enthusiastic service, so too is the promise of a federal forum in which to litigate that defense,” Meadows wrote.
Trump, Meadows, and 17 others were charged by Fani Willis, a far-left Fulton County prosecutor, last summer in the sprawling election "subversion" case.
The Georgia case has already been delayed past the 2024 election because of Willis' indiscretions with another prosecutor, which gave Trump and his lawyers an opening to seek her disqualification.
The Supreme Court's immunity ruling has also scrambled prosecutor Jack Smith's attempt to try Trump on federal charges relating to the 2020 election.
