Former President Donald Trump's legal team may need to come up with a more "creative argument" in defending him as their legal one "ain't working," former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Michael Steele said on Saturday.
Steele's comments come after Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows was handed a legal loss on Friday after trying to move his case to a federal court instead of a state one.
The former White House chief of staff is facing two criminal counts, accused of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, along with Trump and 17 other associates of the former president. All 19 defendants from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' indictment have pleaded not guilty to their various charges. Meadows took the stand in Georgia last week to argue that his case should be tried in federal court, given that his actions tied to the indictment fell under his responsibilities as chief of staff.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones wrote in his 49-page filing order on Friday, however, that Meadows' actions fell outside the requirements of a White House chief of staff.
While speaking with MSNBC host Ali Velshi on Saturday, Steele said Trump's attorneys now need to come up with an alternative argument to get away from state court.
"Well, it smells political because it is political and the judge knew it and the judge was very cautious about that," Steele said of Friday's ruling. "He understands the political environment his court is operating in. He understands the political players in front of him as defendants, and so he wanted to be methodical. He wanted to be clear in his approach to this, so that yes, there will be some political backlash as there always is."
Steele continued: "But at least you can look at his effort to give Mark Meadows every deference, every opportunity to lay out and make the claim that he was acting as an official of the federal government of the United States when he was on those phone calls. It was very clear he was not, so the judge did it right. Mark Meadows, recognizing the peril he is in, was trying to get it to a more favorable venue for him, getting it out of Washington, D.C. The judge would have none of it. I think that to your point, Ali, is something that the other lawyers representing other defendants now, including Donald Trump, are looking at it and going, 'Well we've got to come up with a more creative argument because the legal one ain't working.'"
When asked if Trump's legal team should re-evaluate their strategy after Meadows' ruling, Emeritus professor of law at Harvard Law School Alan Dershowitz told Newsweek on Saturday that Meadows' lawyers "should appeal."
Meanwhile, former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance also said on MSNBC about the ruling on Friday, "Trying to help your boss steal an election is not part of the chief of staff's official duties in serving the presidency. Sounds like the work of the campaign at best, a criminal conspiracy at worst, and the judge says it will stay in the courts in Georgia for a decision."
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