Mark Meadows, doing the right thing, and the consequences for when you don't
Mark Meadows — Trump’s former White House chief of staff — didn’t get the Christmas gift he was looking for.
A federal appeals court shot down his attempt to move his Georgia case from state court to federal court. From there, Meadows was hoping a federal judge would toss the charges out.
But his attempt hit a big wall today.
Appeals court shoots down Mark Meadows’ bid to derail Georgia racketeering case
From the story:
The panel found that Meadows’ efforts to contact Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about possibly altering the outcome of the 2020 election fell squarely outside his official duties. His decision to join a call with Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021 — a now-infamous call that is at the heart of the state prosecution — “reflected a clear attempt to further Trump’s ‘private litigation interests,’” rather than any government function.
The panel characterized Meadows’ December 2020 visit to Georgia as an attempt to “infiltrate” an ongoing recount — an act, Pryor said, that was far outside his official duties.
I’m normally a pretty nice guy.
I’m normally a pretty forgiving person.
But I guess Meadows brings out the old-school, “law-and-order” side of my demeanor.
Meadows had the chance to stand up and fight what he knew was planned for Jan 6.
He didn't.
Meadows ignored, he aided, and at the very end, he threw his hands up in surrender as the plot unfolded. (This is all according to the public testimony, given under oath, by Cassidy Hutchinson.)
I think by the end, Meadows understood the magnitude of the event. Of the beautiful day insurrection.
I also think by the end that Meadows understood the consequences of his own inaction (and his earlier actions that helped cause this horrific stain on our country's history to happen).
But he was frozen in fear by that point. Paralyzed into complete inaction, sitting on his duff and probably wishing he had never sought public office.
Meadows was no different than a young soldier or Marine who witnesses a crime and doesn't halt NOR report it. He’s no different than a young soldier or Marine who cowers in terror while their friends are under fire and dying.
The only difference, of course, is that Mark Meadows isn't young. He was EXTREMELY experienced. Reminder: Meadows was a former Congressman, who served 7 years in Congress, helped shut down the government in 2013, and sought to remove John Boehner as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
Meadows was a long-time D.C. veteran. He was a heavy hitter, and he should have had more spine and mental fortitude to stop what was happening.
Trump lacked any political experience. Meadows should have joined Trump’s legal counsel in warning him not to keep pushing the election lies.
Meadows saw the fire being built. He partially helped stoke the fire.
And when it was getting out of hand and Trump and company were going too far, Meadows didn’t resign. He didn’t hold a press conference and denounce what was happening.
Meadows had a chance to maintain some semblance of honor had he acted earlier (in late November or almost any part of December).
Had he done that? He could have moved on with his life.
He didn't.
Now, he faces serious charges in Georgia. He’s been granted immunity against Trump in the federal case. And he will hated and despised by both those on the Left and those on the Right.
I should feel sorry for him. But it’s hard to grant him that forgiveness when our courts (and those on the Right) have absolutely no sympathy or mercy toward young criminals, young athletes who make mistakes, or veterans who fall short of the mark.
So, we have landed here.
Meadows has made his bed. He’s going to face a jury in Georgia, which could put him in a state jail (where he can’t be pardoned).
And he’s also going to face the court system about his book, which could cost him a ton of money.
From the article announcing that recently filed lawsuit against him (All Seasons Press sues Mark Meadows over alleged lies in memoir):
In announcing the formation of All Seasons Press (ASP) in June 2021, the upstart publisher of conservative writers said the press was established to take on “the cancel culture that is destroying the publishing industry and the country,” pledging to be “a publishing house that stands by our authors, rain or shine.” But this week, the publisher is looking to cancel its relationship with former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, claiming that the author made false statements in his 2021 memoir, The Chief’s Chief, in breach of his publishing contract.
Citing “increasingly credible” media reports of Meadows’s alleged statements to special counsel Jack Smith's investigators — reportedly given in exchange for immunity from prosecution — the publisher is pulling the book from publication and suing Meadows in Florida state court, seeking to claw back the book's $350,000 advance. The suit also seeks more than $1 million in “expectation damages” for lost profits; “out-of-pocket damages” exceeding $600,000 for costs associated with the publication; and more than $1 million in “incidental damages” for harm to ASP’s reputation.
Looking at this from 10,000 feet, there’s a lesson in this mess.
It’s called doing the right thing.
And when you don’t do the right thing, and you sense it’s spiraling out of control (as Meadows must have sensed by mid-December), you need to alter course and do the right thing.
Before it’s too late.
Because unless I’m terribly wrong, for Meadows, it’s now too late.
Love and peace,
Stan R. Mitchell
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