On October 26, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was ordered by a judge to testify before a special grand jury investigating efforts by former President Donald Trump and others to interfere in the 2020 election.
Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, leading the grand jury investigation, filed a petition to subpoena Meadows in August, writing that he attended a meeting at the White House on December 21, 2020, with Trump and others to “discuss allegations of voter fraud and certification of electoral college votes from Georgia and other states.”
Among other things, Meadows also was part of an attempt to observe an election results audit in Georgia the next day, despite it not being open to the public. Meadows was also a participant in a January 2, 2021, phone call between former President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn the election results in Georgia.
In a court filing just days before the order, Meadows’ attorney James Bannister made the argument that Meadows did not need to testify due to executive privilege. Meadows used a similar argument to shield himself from subpoenas issued by the House January 6th Committee.
Despite the appeal, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, overseeing the special grand jury, ruled that Meadows must comply with the subpoena, as he is a “necessary and material witness” for the investigation.
Since Meadows currently resides in South Carolina, not Georgia where the investigation is taking place, a South Carolina judge was required to sign off on the subpoena as well. Circuit Court Judge Edward Miller in Pickens County, South Carolina, agreed to McBurney’s decision and ordered Meadows to testify on Wednesday.
