Former White House chief of staff for Donald Trump, Mark Meadows, on Monday became the first defendant charged in the Fulton County 2020 presidential election interference case to receive a hearing on his attempt to move the case to federal court.
The one-time top aide for the former Republican president, who was also indicted earlier this month, testified for several hours on Monday in United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, according to news reports. Meadows is accused of racketeering and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer for his role in a phone call in which Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, to “find 11,780 votes,” which would have been enough to tilt Georgia’s election in the outgoing president’s favor.
That phone conversation became a lynchpin in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ yearslong investigation that resulted on Aug. 14 with a grand jury handing down a 41-count indictment against Trump and 18 of his allies on multi-state charges of racketeering and conspiracy related to the 2020 election. Meadows is one of several defendants seeking to have the case moved to a federal court to bolster their legal argument that they acted on behalf of the government.
Meadows claims he was merely performing his job duties to ensure that Trump could carry out his role as president. The conversation with Raffensperger took place a few days prior to the Jan. 6th U.S. Capitol breach as Congress was set to certify Biden’s election. The indictment also alleges Meadows texted a Georgia secretary of state investigator asking if Fulton County’s ballot signature verification could be accelerated if Trump’s campaign provided financial assistance.
Fulton County prosecutors have disputed Meadows’ claims that he legally acted in his capacity as Trump’s advisor. The attorneys for Meadows argue their client cannot be…
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