Mark Meadows gave Fani Willis what she needs to convict: ex-conservative columnist

Former President Donald Trump's one-time White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows fought hard on Monday in court to try to convince a federal judge his trial in the Georgia election racketeering case should be moved from state court to federal court — but in doing so, he actually weakened any possible defense he may have had for his actions, argued Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin.

"He is so desperate, he waived his Fifth Amendment rights, testified at length in federal court at Monday’s hearing on removal of his case and seemed to leave himself wide open to prosecution for his involvement in the phony-elector scheme," wrote Rubin, a former conservative columnist turned against the GOP by Trump. "The first question is why he so fears state court" — since even if he succeeds, he still gets tried under state charges, and still can't be pardoned if convicted.

The best theory, Rubin said, is one hinted at by other legal experts: he hopes he'll draw a more conservative judge who will find in favor of his argument that he is immune from prosecution because he was acting in an official capacity when he pushed to overturn elections based on conspiracy theories.