And then you left out the best part…

That’s already pretty devastating, but then here comes the fork. Meadows, Willis argues, has claimed outright in a different filing that “all of his relevant conduct was impermissible political activity” by asserting that his actions were “unquestionably political” in nature.

Meadows made this rather boneheaded move as part of his Motion to Dismiss the entire case, which he also filed last week. In that motion, as Willis points out, Meadows broadly declared that “[a]ll of the alleged conduct as to Mr. Meadows relates to protected political activity that lies in the heartland of First Amendment” and “[a]ll the substantive allegations in the Indictment concern unquestionably political activity and thus, if not covered by Supremacy Clause immunity, the charges would be barred by the First Amendment.”

Thanks for that admission, Mark. To make your First Amendment argument, you just set yourself up for a takedown on your removal request. In fact, Willis points out, Meadows has admitted he was running around doing “unquestionably political activity” in violation of his duties as a federal official under the Hatch Act.