Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is among the 19 individuals indicted by a grand jury in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The indictment, which was announced on Monday by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, accuses Meadows of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and soliciting the violation of oath by a public officer.
Meadows pressured state officials to speed up audit
According to the indictment, Meadows visited Cobb County, a suburb of Atlanta, in December 2020 to observe an audit of absentee ballot signatures conducted by state investigators. While there, he pressured Frances Watson, the chief investigator for the secretary of state’s office, to speed up the audit and asked her if the Trump campaign could assist financially. He also obtained Watson’s phone number and passed it along to former President Donald Trump, who later called her and urged her to find evidence of fraud.
The indictment also states that Meadows was involved in the infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump pressured Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in the state. Meadows reportedly listened to the call and tried to intervene several times.
Meadows sought to disrupt congressional certification
The indictment also alleges that Meadows conspired with Trump and other defendants to disrupt and delay the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, where the electoral votes were certified. The indictment claims that Meadows met with Trump and political adviser John McEntee in December 2020 and requested that McEntee prepare a memorandum outlining a strategy to interfere with the certification process. The strategy included having Vice President Mike Pence count only half of the electoral votes from certain states and then return the remaining electoral votes to state legislatures.
The indictment further alleges that Meadows contacted state legislators from Michigan and Pennsylvania and tried to persuade them to hold special sessions to challenge the election results. He also attended a White House meeting with Trump, lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, and a group of Pennsylvania lawmakers to discuss this possibility.
Meadows faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted
Meadows is one of the most prominent figures indicted by the Georgia grand jury, along with Trump, Giuliani, Ellis, and Sidney Powell. The other defendants include lawyers, fake electors, pastors, publicists, and election officials who allegedly participated in various schemes to undermine the integrity of the election.
If convicted of the RICO charge, Meadows and the other defendants could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine. They could also face additional penalties for the other charges, such as solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, false statements, conspiracy, and criminal solicitation.
The indictment is one of several legal challenges that Trump and his allies are facing for their attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump is also facing criminal investigations in New York and Washington D.C., as well as civil lawsuits from voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic.
