Mark Meadows hires 'big gun' lawyer who once declined to represent Donald Trump
Mark Meadows added to his legal team a “big gun” lawyer who once refused to represent Donald Trump and with extensive Supreme Court expertise, suggesting the former chief of staff will try once again to sever his case from the former president’s, according to court records and reports.
Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement will represent Meadows as one of 14 co-defendants in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ Georgia election interference case, according to local court filing first spotted by LawFare reporter Anna Bower and Politico’s Kyle Cheney.
The filing appears in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which last month smacked down Meadow’s bid to send his criminal case to federal court.
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“A forthcoming appeal of that decision appears likely,” Bowers said.
Clement has a long and storied history representing some big-name conservatives in the nation’s highest court and declining to represent others.
Back in 2017, when the former president’s 2016 campaign faced an FBI investigation into alleged ties with Russia, Clement’s firm was reportedly one of four that turned down White House requests to represent Trump.
"The concerns were, 'The guy won’t pay and he won’t listen,'" an anonymous White House source told Yahoo News at the time.
Clement served as Solicitor General under former President George W. Bush from 2004 to 2008, then established a reputation arguing conservative cases in front of the Supreme Court.
Clement successfully argued for the Hobby Lobby’s right not to provide contraception to women workers and defended the Defense of Marriage Act, the overturned law that banned same-sex marriage.