Trump Chief of Staff Meadows Ordered to Testify Before Georgia Grand Jury – Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows was ordered by a South Carolina court to appear before a grand jury in Georgia looking into possible attempts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to tamper with Georgia’s 2020 election results. At a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Edward Miller stated, “I am going to find that the witness is material and necessary to the investigation and that the state of Georgia is assuring not to cause undue hardship to him.”
The inquiry into the steps taken by Trump and others to reverse his loss to Democrat Joe Biden was launched by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis at the beginning of last year. One of the prominent acquaintances and advisers of the Republican former president whose testimony Willis has requested is Meadows. Willis had to put the matter before a judge in South Carolina, where Meadows lives, in order to compel his testimony before the panel.
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Former North Carolina congressman Meadows intends to fight the decision, according to Meadows’ attorney James Bannister to CNN. Meadows met with Trump and others at the White House on December 21, 2020, to “discuss allegations of voter fraud and certification of electoral college votes from Georgia and other states,” according to Willis, who filed the petition requesting Meadows’ testimony.
The following day, Cobb County, just outside Atlanta, was the site of Meadows’ “surprise visit” as part of an audit of the signatures on absentee ballot envelopes, according to Willis. According to the petition, he requested to watch the audit but was denied access since it wasn’t available to the general public.
Following the election, Meadows sent letters to Justice Department officials alleging voter fraud in Georgia and elsewhere and requested investigations, according to Willis. And he participated in a now-infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which Trump suggested the state’s top elections official, also a Republican, could “find” enough votes to overturn his narrow election loss in the state.
This week, Bannister argued in a court document that his client is exempt from testifying due to presidential privilege and other legal protections. Trump allegedly gave Meadows the order to “preserve certain privileges and immunities attaching to his former office as White House Chief of Staff,” according to Bannister’s assertion in the lawsuit. According to Bannister, Willis’ petition requests that he “divulge the contents of executive privileged communications with the President.
Meadows previously fought against subpoenas issued by the U.S. House committee looking into the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, by using that privilege. Meadows was found in contempt of Congress by the House for disobeying the summons, but no charges were brought by the Justice Department.
Georgia prohibits the issuance of indictments by special grand juries. Instead, they can gather information and subpoena witnesses before recommending additional measures, such as filing criminal charges, in a final report. However, it is ultimately up to the district attorney to choose whether to ask a conventional grand jury to issue an indictment.
Bannister argued that Meadows cannot be compelled to testify in a civil investigation and that the special grand jury proceedings are not criminal proceedings under the South Carolina legislation that controls out-of-state subpoena requests. He cannot be a “material witness,” the filing argues, because he has nothing to testify about.
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According to Bannister, grand jury confidentiality is “paramount” in South Carolina. Bannister stated that it is against South Carolina grand jury confidentiality requirements and that doing so would violate Meadows’ state right to privacy because the special grand jury is expected to ultimately produce a public report and the paperwork requesting Meadows’ testimony was submitted publicly.
Judge McBurney of the Fulton County Superior Court has made it apparent that he views the investigation by the special grand jury as a criminal proceeding by rejecting various attempts by potential witnesses to avoid or postpone testifying. He has also emphasized the importance of keeping the panel’s operations confidential.
