Mark Meadows.Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Mark Meadowsis asking a federal court to throw out charges against him, arguing he was simply carrying out his duties as a government official.
In a document filed over the weekend, he asked the court to dismiss the charges, saying that his conduct only arose because of his role under Trump and that it “falls squarely within the scope of [his] duties as Chief of Staff and the federal policy underlying that role,” perCNN.
That conduct includes his participation in anow-infamous phone callbetween Trump and Georgia Secretary of StateBrad Raffensperger, in which the former president urged Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes,” so he could take the state’s Electoral College votes fromJoe Biden.
Then-President Donald Trump, left, speaks with White House counsel Pat Cipollone, left, national security adviser Robert O’Brien and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock
The latest court filing comes days after Meadows' attorneys requested that the hearingbe moved from state to federal court.
The indictment against Meadows and 18 others in Trump’s orbit was unsealed last week, following some 10 hours of grand jury testimony. The former president himself was charged with more than a dozen felonies, including filing false documents, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree and false statements and writings.
Others charged in the indictment include Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still; attorneysJohn Eastman, Bob Cheeley, Ray Smith III and Kenneth Chesebro; former assistant U.S. attorney generalJeffrey Clark; GOP strategist Michael Roman; former Coffee County elections supervisor Misty Hampton; former Coffee County GOP chairwoman Cathy Latham; Atlanta bail bondsman Scott Hall; celebrity publicistTrevian Kutti; Illinois pastor Stephen Cliffguard Lee; and Harrison Floyd, who served as director of Black Voices for Trump.
CNN reports that the legal team for Meadows cut off communication with attorneys for Trump, causing speculation that the former chief of staff could turn on the former president.
According to ABC, Meadows told federal investigators that he could not recall Trump ordering the declassification of classified materials before leaving the White House, despite that the former president has claimed he had a “standing order” to declassify documents during his presidency.
source: people.com
