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(WASHINGTON) — Attorneys for Hunter Biden on Wednesday filed suit against a former Trump White House aide over his alleged role in publishing online a trove of emails and embarrassing images purportedly belonging to the president’s son.

The 13-page suit, filed in federal court in California, accuses Garrett Ziegler of improperly “accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging computer data that they do not own” in violation of the state’s computer fraud laws.

Ziegler, a former aide to White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, has emerged as one of the Biden family’s most outspoken critics, often using crude language to chide President Joe Biden and his embattled son online.

The lawsuit describes in detail how Ziegler and 10 additional unnamed defendants allegedly obtained data belonging to Hunter Biden and disseminated “tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings” on the internet.

Hunter Biden is seeking a jury trial to determine appropriate damages and an injunction preventing Ziegler from continuing to access or tamper with his data.

“While Defendant Ziegler is entitled to his extremist and counterfactual opinions, he has no right to engage in illegal activities to advance his right-wing agenda,” wrote attorneys for Hunter Biden. “Yet that is precisely what Defendant Ziegler and his so-called ‘nonprofit research group’ … have done.”

An attorney for Ziegler did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Ziegler previously condemned “the disgusting lawfare tactics by the pResident’s corrupt & degenerate bagman & son against @mpolousa,” after receiving a document retention letter from Hunter Biden’s attorney earlier this year.

Ziegler’s bold investigative efforts and controversial online commentary about the Bidens — whom he has referred to as “a pack of feral dogs” — have made him a star in conservative news outlets. He “regularly brag[s] about their illegal activities in interviews with members of the media, on social media, and on right-wing podcasts,” according to the suit.

In the lawsuit, Hunter Biden’s attorneys characterize him as “a zealot who has waged a sustained, unhinged and obsessed campaign against [Hunter Biden] and the entire Biden family for more than two years.”

Wednesday’s suit is the latest salvo in Hunter Biden’s legal counteroffensive against those who allegedly participated in the infamous laptop controversy in the weeks leading up to the 2020 presidential election.

Hunter Biden’s legal team in March filed suit against John Paul Mac Isaac, a Delaware-based computer repairman who in April 2019 purportedly obtained and later disseminated data from a laptop allegedly belonging to the president’s son. That suit remains ongoing and Mac Isaac has denied any wrongdoing.

Ziegler’s online antics have opened real-world opportunities for him to pursue allegations of corruption against the Bidens. He has claimed that he regularly consults with Republican congressional investigators as part of their investigation into the president. Also, an Arkansas attorney who represents the mother of one of Hunter Biden’s children enlisted Ziegler as an expert witness in their protracted paternity dispute. That suit was settled earlier this year.

Attorneys for Hunter Biden have previously referred Ziegler to federal and state investigators for alleged criminal behavior. And in the spring, Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell twice wrote letters to Ziegler instructing him to preserve documents related to Hunter Biden — a letter commonly sent by attorneys before filing formal litigation.

Meanwhile, Hunter Biden continues to face legal exposure of his own. In the past few months, Hunter Biden has suffered a string of setbacks, led by the demise of a plea deal that might have ended the federal investigation into his overseas business dealings.

That agreement would have allowed him to plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanor tax offenses to most likely avoid jail time, and enter into a diversion program to avoid prosecution on a felony gun charge. But the two-pronged deal fell apart during a court hearing in July, and U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who has since been elevated to special counsel, has signaled his intention to now indict Hunter Biden in multiple venues on tax and gun charges.

In Washington, Hunter Biden and his father continue to face a GOP-led congressional investigation into what House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer says are the Biden family’s “shady business deals.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday announced that he was ordering House Republicans to move ahead with an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

The White House attacked the move as “extreme politics at its worst,” adding that “the president hasn’t done anything wrong.”

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WASHINGTON — A reward has climbed to $30,000 as authorities search for a homicide suspect who escaped from a Washington, D.C., hospital one week ago.

When Christopher Haynes, 30, was arrested on Sept. 6, he complained of a preexisting ankle injury, according to D.C. police.

Haynes was taken to George Washington University Hospital, and that afternoon, while an officer was “changing out his handcuffs” to secure him to the gurney, “Mr. Haynes physically assaulted that officer and fled,” D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said.

The two officers guarding Haynes chased him but couldn’t catch him, police said.

Haynes — a suspect in the Aug. 12 murder of a man in D.C. — escaped with one handcuff still attached to his wrist, police said.

The escape prompted a brief shelter-in-place order at George Washington University.

D.C. police have “received numerous reports of possible sightings” and are “dedicating resources to each tip,” the department said in a statement Tuesday.

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NEW YORK — There’s been a common sight on Northeast beaches this summer: an alarmingly rise in whale carcasses washing in from the Atlantic Ocean.

Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned over the number of dead whales, an animal that provides a lens into the general condition of the ocean and the beings that reside there, Chris Robbins, associate director of science for Ocean Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit, told ABC News.

“They’re like the marine equivalent of the canary in the coal mine in that they’re giving us insights into the health of the broader marine ecosystem by how they respond to various drivers and threats of the ocean,” Robbins said.

Whale strandings in the Northeast are not new. But the uptick in deaths in recent decades, which has increased exponentially, are concerning the marine science community, experts said.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Northeast would see just one dead whale wash ashore, Robert DiGiovanni, the director of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, told ABC News.

That began to change in 2001, when larger whale stranding events were recorded in the spring and winter, or the migratory periods, DiGiovanni said.

Since 2016, 208 whale strandings have occurred on Atlantic coasts from Maine to Florida, records kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show. More than a third of those deaths — 72– have occurred in New York, mostly on Long Island and the Rockaways.

There has been an especially significant uptick in whale mortality since 2017, which saw the beginning of several unusual mortality events, Robbins said. More than 90 whales died in U.S. waters in 2017 and 80 in 2018, compared to 55 deaths in 2007, according to NOAA.

Historically, whales typically die after being struck by a vessel, or due to encounters or entanglements with fishing gear, experts said.

The immense amount of energy it takes to swim free from entanglements is energy whales would otherwise need to use to feed, reproduce or avoid predators.

North Atlantic right whales, whose precarious population continues to dwindle, are especially vulnerable to these threats, especially since their feeding grounds and migratory routes are in the vicinity of major ports along the Atlantic coastline, Robbins said.

The species is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, with only about 350 left in the world.

Climate change may be playing a major role in the increase of deaths. As ocean waters warm, it is creating major changes in oceanographic conditions, Robbins said.

Researchers have recorded seasonal mismatches for the blooming of zooplankton, the main food source of right whales, and the time in which the whales arrive along their migratory route.

The hypothesis is that the zooplankton are responding to temperature cues and blooming earlier in the season, before the right whales have an opportunity to forage or feed, Robbins said.

Not only is the species not getting enough plankton to sustain their nutritional and energy needs, they are also changing their migratory patterns to new locations, like to the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Canada, where there are less protections in place to prevent boat strikes and entanglements in fishing gear.

Plastic pollution in oceans are also an emerging threat for whales, especially since there is commonality between whale feeding areas and where the highest concentration of garbage is, according to a study published in Nature last year.

The largest animal in the world, the blue whale, ingests an estimated 10 million pieces of plastic per day, the researchers of the study found.

“They feel like their bellies are full when they’re getting fewer calories for the effort, which means they need to use more energy to consume more prey to make up the difference in calories,” Robbins said. This means they have less energy for swimming, reproducing and predator avoidance.”

Other consequences of plastic consumption include reduced reproduction and well as a reduction in growth and longevity. In addition, the lacerations that larger plastics can cause to the intestinal tracts of digestive tracts of whales cause inflammation and infections, Robbins said.

For the minke whale, the increase in deaths is likely due to biological processes from infectious diseases, DiGiovanni said.

An uptick in whale deaths was also seen all over the world this summer.

In July, there were mass stranding events in Scotland and Australia. In Ireland, researchers were worried that a 60-foot bloated fin whale would explode.

There may not be a common thread in the whale strandings and deaths that are occurring around the world, Stacey Hedman, director of communications for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, told ABC News via email.

Some species of whales could be seeing larger upticks in strandings due to population increases. The increase in beached whales also coincides with an increase of whale sightings closer to the coast, DiGiovanni said.

The whales are likely following food sources, which could indicate a healthier ecosystem in some of the areas, DiGiovanni said.

Researchers are striving to understand the reason behind the whale deaths.

“We’re always concerned when any whale washes up,” DiGiovanni said. “We want to understand more about what they’re doing.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — There’s been a common sight on Northeast beaches this summer: an alarmingly rise in whale carcasses washing in from the Atlantic Ocean.

Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned over the number of dead whales, an animal that provides a lens into the general condition of the ocean and the beings that reside there, Chris Robbins, associate director of science for Ocean Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit, told ABC News.

“They’re like the marine equivalent of the canary in the coal mine in that they’re giving us insights into the health of the broader marine ecosystem by how they respond to various drivers and threats of the ocean,” Robbins said.

Whale strandings in the Northeast are not new. But the uptick in deaths in recent decades, which has increased exponentially, are concerning the marine science community, experts said.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Northeast would see just one dead whale wash ashore, Robert DiGiovanni, the director of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, told ABC News.

That began to change in 2001, when larger whale stranding events were recorded in the spring and winter, or the migratory periods, DiGiovanni said.

Since 2016, 208 whale strandings have occurred on Atlantic coasts from Maine to Florida, records kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show. More than a third of those deaths — 72– have occurred in New York, mostly on Long Island and the Rockaways.

There has been an especially significant uptick in whale mortality since 2017, which saw the beginning of several unusual mortality events, Robbins said. More than 90 whales died in U.S. waters in 2017 and 80 in 2018, compared to 55 deaths in 2007, according to NOAA.

Historically, whales typically die after being struck by a vessel, or due to encounters or entanglements with fishing gear, experts said.

The immense amount of energy it takes to swim free from entanglements is energy whales would otherwise need to use to feed, reproduce or avoid predators.

North Atlantic right whales, whose precarious population continues to dwindle, are especially vulnerable to these threats, especially since their feeding grounds and migratory routes are in the vicinity of major ports along the Atlantic coastline, Robbins said.

The species is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, with only about 350 left in the world.

Climate change may be playing a major role in the increase of deaths. As ocean waters warm, it is creating major changes in oceanographic conditions, Robbins said.

Researchers have recorded seasonal mismatches for the blooming of zooplankton, the main food source of right whales, and the time in which the whales arrive along their migratory route.

The hypothesis is that the zooplankton are responding to temperature cues and blooming earlier in the season, before the right whales have an opportunity to forage or feed, Robbins said.

Not only is the species not getting enough plankton to sustain their nutritional and energy needs, they are also changing their migratory patterns to new locations, like to the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Canada, where there are less protections in place to prevent boat strikes and entanglements in fishing gear.

Plastic pollution in oceans are also an emerging threat for whales, especially since there is commonality between whale feeding areas and where the highest concentration of garbage is, according to a study published in Nature last year.

The largest animal in the world, the blue whale, ingests an estimated 10 million pieces of plastic per day, the researchers of the study found.

“They feel like their bellies are full when they’re getting fewer calories for the effort, which means they need to use more energy to consume more prey to make up the difference in calories,” Robbins said. This means they have less energy for swimming, reproducing and predator avoidance.”

Other consequences of plastic consumption include reduced reproduction and well as a reduction in growth and longevity. In addition, the lacerations that larger plastics can cause to the intestinal tracts of digestive tracts of whales cause inflammation and infections, Robbins said.

For the minke whale, the increase in deaths is likely due to biological processes from infectious diseases, DiGiovanni said.

An uptick in whale deaths was also seen all over the world this summer.
MORE: Australia’s humpback populations rebound, raising hopes of marine scientists

In July, there were mass stranding events in Scotland and Australia. In Ireland, researchers were worried that a 60-foot bloated fin whale would explode.

There may not be a common thread in the whale strandings and deaths that are occurring around the world, Stacey Hedman, director of communications for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, told ABC News via email.

Some species of whales could be seeing larger upticks in strandings due to population increases. The increase in beached whales also coincides with an increase of whale sightings closer to the coast, DiGiovanni said.

The whales are likely following food sources, which could indicate a healthier ecosystem in some of the areas, DiGiovanni said.

Researchers are striving to understand the reason behind the whale deaths.

“We’re always concerned when any whale washes up,” DiGiovanni said. “We want to understand more about what they’re doing.”

 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON — In a rare post-trial hearing, a court security officer testified before the judge overseeing former Trump adviser Peter Navarro’s contempt of Congress case, after Navarro’s attorneys moved for a mistrial.

Navarro, who under Donald Trump was director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, was found guilty last week of two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena issued in February 2022 by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

After the verdict, Navarro’s attorneys moved for a mistrial on the grounds that the jury exited the building before returning a verdict, and that they may have seen protesters while outside.

Rosa Torres, the court security officer who escorted the jurors outside the courtroom, testified Wednesday that when the jurors were escorted outside they remained at a distance from the media, and said that there was at least one protester who was carrying a flag and a poster.

Torres said that the jurors were not wearing their juror badges while they were outside and that they were not approached by the protester.

During the hearing, Navarro’s attorney, John Rowley, presented several photos of the jurors on their break and pressed Torres about “the scene outside.”

When asked by Rowley about the timing of the jurors’ break, Torres said the jury returned a verdict “20 to 45 minutes” after returning to the courthouse.

Judge Amit Mehta told attorneys the court has security footage and “public source video” of when the jurors stepped outside.

A hearing on a mistrial motion will be scheduled in 14 days.

Navarro’s attorneys had argued at trial that Trump had asserted executive privilege over Navarro’s Jan. 6 testimony, but prosecutors said that even if that was the case, Navarro was still required to appear before the committee and cite privilege on a question-by-question basis.

The Jan. 6 committee had been seeking to question Navarro about efforts to delay Congress’ certification of the 2020 election, a plan Navarro dubbed the “Green Bay Sweep” in his book, “In Trump Time,” a former committee staffer testified.

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PHILADELPHIA — A fugitive who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison just days after being sentenced to life without parole in the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend was captured early Wednesday, Pennsylvania State Police said.

Details on the capture have not yet been revealed. Police have scheduled a press conference for 9:30 a.m.

The end of the 14-day manhunt for 34-year-old Danelo Cavalcante came as a relief to residents of Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania, who had been advised by officials to stay alert. Several schools within the area also briefly canceled classes amid the search for the convicted murderer.

Officials said Tuesday that Cavalcante had stolen a .22-caliber rifle from a person’s home.

Cavalcante, who officials said is also wanted in his native Brazil on homicide charges, escaped from the Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township on Aug. 31.

Cavalcante was noticed missing that morning after inmates returned from the exercise yard at the prison, where he was being held pending transfer to a state correctional institution.

He had scaled a wall to gain access to the roof and pushing through razor wire before jumping down to a less secure area to make his getaway, Howard Holland, the acting warden of the Chester County Prison, told reporters during a recent press briefing.

He followed the same method of escape and route used by an inmate at the Chester County Prison, Holland said. Inmate Igor Vidra Bolte broke out of the prison in Pocopson Township on May 19 by scaling a wall in an exercise yard to gain access to the roof, according to a criminal complaint obtained by ABC News.

Holland noted “one key difference” between the two escapes was the actions of a tower guard whose primary responsibility was to monitor inmates in the exercise yard.

“In Bolte’s escape, the tower officer observed the subject leaving the yard area and contacted control immediately. That is why Bolte was apprehended within 5 minutes,” Holland said. “In the escape of Cavalcante, the tower officer did not observe nor report the escape. The escape was discovered as part of the inmate counts that occur when the inmates come in from the exercise yard.”

Cavalcante escaped from the prison by “crab walking” up a wall, pushing his way through razor wire installed after Bolte’s escape, running across the prison roof and scaling more razor wire, Holland said.

The corrections officer on duty in the guard tower at the time was terminated on Sept. 7, officials said.

Holland said during the press briefing on Sept. 6 that steps are being taken now to completely enclose the eight exercise yards at the prison, which are now open-air. He said additional security cameras will also be installed and additional officers will be on the ground to help the tower officers monitor the inmates in the exercise yards.

The search for Cavalcante was centered in an area near the Chester County Prison, where he had been spotted multiple times, officials said.

A citizen reported seeing a man matching Cavalcante’s description on Sept. 7 running through the area near Longwood Gardens, a sprawling horticulture attraction located about 5 miles southwest of the prison, said Lt. Col. George Bivens, deputy commissioner of operations for the Pennsylvania State Police. The search perimeter shifted toward Longwood Gardens, and Calvalcante was spotted two more times in the search area on Sept. 8, state police said.

Bivens said nearly 400 people from multiple agencies were engaged in the manhunt on Sept. 8, adding that they will “keep up this search at whatever tempo is appropriate for as long as we need to. He’s a dangerous individual.”

A Chester County jury on Aug. 16 convicted Cavalcante of first-degree murder in the fatal 2021 stabbing in Schuylkill Township of his former girlfriend, 38-year-old Deborah Brandao. Prosecutors said Brandao was stabbed 38 times in front of her two young children, ages 4 and 7.

The jury took just 15 minutes of deliberations before voting unanimously to convict Cavalcante.

Prosecutors said Brandao was killed after she learned Cavalcante was wanted for murder in Brazil and threatened to expose him to police, Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said in a statement following Cavalcante’s conviction.

Following Brandao’s murder, Cavalcante fled to Virginia, where he was arrested and brought back to Pennsylvania to face justice for Brandao’s killing.

It was the second time in less than two months that a dangerous inmate had escaped from a Pennsylvania lockup. Inmate Michael Burham, who is a suspect in the rape and murder of a 34-year-old woman in Jamestown, New York, escaped from the Warren County Jail in northern Pennsylvania on July 6.

Burham, an Army reserve sergeant who authorities said was a “self-taught survivalist,” was captured on July 15 following a massive manhunt in the northern Pennsylvania woods.

 

 

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(GREENSBURG, La.) — One student died Tuesday, and another was critically injured after a shooting at St. Helena High School in Greensburg, Louisiana.

The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. local time as school was being dismissed, a rep for the St. Helena Parish Sheriff’s Department told ABC News.

A third student was injured. All three were students at the school, the rep said.

The student who was left in critical condition was airlifted to an area hospital. Their condition is currently unknown.

Sheriff’s deputies and the crime lab are on the scene, as well as city police, according to officials.

A suspect was taken into custody, ABC News has confirmed. Authorities told WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge that the suspect is a 14-year-old student.

A message addressing the tragedy was posted on the St. Helena Parish School District’s Facebook page.

“A tragic incident occurred on the campus of St. Helena College and Career Academy,” the statement read. “The scene is still active and we are working closely with authorities at this time.”

School is canceled until Friday, the district said, adding that grief counselors would be available when students returned.

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(NEW YORK) — A 44-year-old inmate who escaped from a New York City-area hospital last month was tracked through New Jersey, Virginia and then back to Queens, where he was recaptured Tuesday morning after authorities found him sleeping on a friend’s couch, authorities said.

The man — Yenchun Chen — injured himself first rappelling and then falling out the fifth-floor window of Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital on Aug. 9. He fled in a car that was tracked to New Jersey, authorities said.

With U.S. Marshals and members of the Fugitive Task Force on his trail, Chen was tracked to Virginia, where he has family and friends, and then back to Queens, where he was recently couch-surfing at different friends’ houses, according to authorities.

He was arrested on Tuesday at 6:15 a.m. ET in a second-floor apartment on 45th Ave, where he was asleep on a friend’s couch, authorities said.

Chen was taken to the hospital following his arrest for injuries to his ribs and legs sustained when he made his August escape. He is believed to have fallen a significant distance from the hospital window, and while still able to walk, he was “banged up,” authorities said.

He is being treated for those injuries at Bellevue Hospital, authorities added, where detectives are waiting to speak to him.

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(NEW YORK) — A 74-year-old man returning home from work on Manhattan’s Upper East Side early Tuesday was randomly shoved onto the subway tracks by an apparent neighborhood homeless man muttering to himself, according to police.

The victim, who works at a parking garage on Fifth Avenue, was accused by the victim of staring at him before he was shoved onto the tracks while waiting for the 6 train by a disheveled man in a dirty tee-shirt who may be suffering from mental health issues, police said.

The victim’s injuries seemed to be minor at first, but doctors later determined he has multiple rib and pelvic injuries as well as a spine fracture, according to the NYPD. His back and neck landed on the tracks, police added.

Detectives recovered video of both the attack and the suspect leaving the station.

While the attack does not match any pattern, there are incidents involving a homeless man in the neighborhood that are under investigation.

“Crime is down 4 ½ percent in the subway system this year versus last year. That 4 ½ percent reduction translates to 70 less crime victims this year compared to last year,” NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper said. “Fortunately, incidents like this are rare. but when they do occur, it is our top priority to apprehend and arrest those individuals that did it.”

Ten people have been pushed onto subway tracks so far this year, almost half of the 19 at this point last year, according to police.

Last November, Mayor Eric Adams issued a directive that would send officers, EMS workers and other city agents to involuntarily take individuals who appear “to be mentally ill” and “a danger to themselves” into custody for psychiatric evaluations. It was a strategy meant to combat homelessness and mental health issues.

“Without that intervention, they remain lost and isolated from society, tormented by delusions and disordered thinking,” Adams said at the time. “They cycle in and out of hospitals and jails, but New Yorkers rightly expect our city to help them and help them we will.”

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(ATLANTA) — Lawyers for attorney Kenneth Chesebro on Tuesday filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him in the Georgia election interference case, arguing that his actions were “justified” because he was acting “within his capacity as a lawyer” for the Trump campaign.

“Mr. Chesebro, being an expert in constitutional law, acted within his capacity as a lawyer in researching and finding precedents in order to form a legal opinion which was then supplied to his client, the Trump Campaign,” the motion said.

Chesebro and 18 others, including former President Donald Trump, have pleaded not guilty to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Chesebro is accused of committing acts “in furtherance of the conspiracy,” according to the indictment.

In their filing, Chesebro’s lawyers acknowledged that their client drafted the legal memos at the center of his alleged conduct — one of which included a strategy to use so-called “alternate electors” to prevent Joe Biden from receiving 270 electoral votes — but that that action was justified since Chesebro was “fulfilling his duty to his client as an attorney.”

Chesebro’s attorneys asserted that criminalizing their client’s conduct would “stymy the long-held practice of attorneys advocating for novel legal positions.”

“If the Court were to permit the State to prosecute individuals for writing a novel, controversial, or even incorrect interpretation of an abstruse law, then student law reviews and law journals everywhere would suddenly find themselves in need of staff,” the motion read.

The effort marks the second time Chesebro has moved to dismiss his case, following a motion to dismiss that he filed on Sept. 5.

Chesebro and former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell are scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 23 after they both requested speedy trials in the case.

Also Tuesday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals gave Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis one day to respond to former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ request for an emergency stay regarding his case.

Meadows on Monday requested the emergency stay after a judge on Friday rejected Meadows’ bid to have his case moved, based on a federal law that calls for the removal of criminal proceedings brought in state court to the federal court system when someone is charged for actions they allegedly took as a federal official acting “under color” of their office.

The Eleventh Circuit, responding to Meadows’ emergency motion, ordered Willis to submit a brief responding by noon ET Wednesday.

Additionally, the court ordered both Meadows and Willis to submit briefs addressing whether the federal removal statue permits former federal officers to remove state actions to federal court, or only current federal officers.

The briefings on that question are due Wednesday afternoon for both sides.

Meadows is charged with one count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act and one count of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, for taking actions “in furtherance of the conspiracy,” according to the DA’s indictment.

His attorney, George Terwilliger, has said, “Nothing Mr. Meadows is alleged in the indictment to have done is criminal per se: arranging Oval Office meetings, contacting state officials on the President’s behalf, visiting a state government building, and setting up a phone call for the President. One would expect a Chief of Staff to the President of the United States to do these sorts of things.”

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