Judge orders Trump ally to testify in Ga. election probe
ATLANTA — A judge Wednesday ordered former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to testify before a special grand jury that’s investigating whether President Donald Trump and his allies illegally tried to sway Georgia’s results in the 2020 election.
Meadows, a former GOP congressman, is a key figure in the investigation. He traveled to Georgia, sat in on
Trump’s phone calls with state officials, and coordinated and communicated with outside influencers who were either encouraging or discouraging the pressure campaign.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened the investigation last year into actions taken by Trump and others to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the state.
Meadows attorney Jim Bannister said his client was “weighing all options,” including appeals.
In the petition seeking Meadows’ testimony, Willis wrote that he attended a Dec. 21, 2020, meeting at the White House with Trump and others “to discuss allegations of voter fraud and certification of Electoral College votes from Georgia and other states.”
The next day, Willis wrote, Meadows made a “surprise visit” to Cobb County, just outside Atlanta, where an audit of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes was being conducted. He asked to observe the audit but wasn’t allowed to because it wasn’t open to the public, the petition says.
Meadows also sent emails to Justice Department officials after the election alleging voter fraud in Georgia and elsewhere and requesting investigations, Willis wrote. And he took part in a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which Trump suggested that Raffensperger, the state’s top elections official, could “find” enough votes to overturn the president’s narrow loss in the state.
According to a transcript of the call, Meadows said Trump’s team believed that “not every vote or fair vote and legal vote was counted.” He goes on to say he hopes they can agree on a way “to look at this a little bit more fully.”
Raffensperger disputed the assertions, addressing Trump, “We don’t agree that you have won.”