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Mark Meadows took the stand before a federal judge on Monday, testifying that his actions in the Georgia indictment accusing him of taking part in an illegal conspiracy to change the outcome of the 2020 election in favor of Trump were part of his job as then-White House chief of staff.
Meadows defended his actions as Trump’s chief of staff and claimed that his duties required him to sit in on nearly all of the former president’s meetings,according to ABC News. He lamented that the period after the 2020 election was more than he could handle.
“Having open questions [about the election] continued to be a roadblock for initiating other plans,” Meadows testified, per the Washington Post. He added: “I just needed to land the plane.”
According to the Georgia indictment, Meadows arranged the now-infamous phone call between Trump and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump told Raffensperger he could be in legal trouble if he didn’t help overturn the election, whileasking him to “find” the nearly 12,000 voteshe needed to overtake President-elect Joe Biden in the state. On Monday, Meadows claimed that the former president had instructed him to set up the call.
Meadows told the judge that he was attempting to resolve a dispute during the call, as Raffensperger was being sued by the Trump campaign.
The former chief of staff argued on Monday that he acted in his capacity as a federal officer and therefore, should have his case moved to federal court. Rolling Stone reported the filing earlier this month, in which his attorneys argued that since “the conduct giving rise to the charges in the indictment all occurred during his tenure and as part of his service as Chief of Staff,” to the president, the charges should be remanded to federal court.
Raffensperger took the stand for more than an hour and testified that Trump “lost the election” and that at first, he tried to resist the call with Trump.“I told my deputy I don’t think this is in our best interest,” he said, per CNN. “Outreach to this extent was extraordinary,” Raffensperger added, referring to the call arranged by Meadows.
Kurt Hilbert, a Trump campaign attorney, also testified on Monday, and said the only purpose of the call was to discuss campaign matters, challenging Meadows’ claim that he acted as a federal official.
Trump and 18 of his allies are scheduled to be arraigned next week on charges related to the efforts to subvert the 2020 election.
