Paul Clement, a former solicitor general and appellate attorney who has scored some of the most significant victories before the United States Supreme Court, recently took over as lead attorney for Donald Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Clement has already upped the ante with the petition he filed earlier this month in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit by highlighting that unless Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ criminal vendetta against Meadows is removed to federal court, Republican prosecutors will have a green light to eke out revenge.
In that petition, Clement asked the entire 11th Circuit to reconsider the earlier decision by a three-judge panel holding that Meadows could not remove to federal court the criminal case Willis launched against him last year.
Clement’s strong reputation signals that should the 11th Circuit deny rehearing — or grant rehearing and again hold that Meadows cannot remove the case under federal statute — Meadows’ legal team is prepared to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Having Clement on the Supreme Court’s petition for review will add an invaluable gravitas to the case.
“We are all extremely pleased to have a Supreme Court and appellate litigator of Paul’s stature, experience, and expertise on this legal team,” George Terwilliger of Terwilliger Law PLLC, and one of Meadows’ co-counsels who also served as No. 2 in George H.W. Bush’s Justice Department, told The Federalist.
Willis’ Lawfare
In August 2023, Willis, the elected prosecutor in deep-blue Fulton County,
