ATLANTA (AP) 鈥 Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff, is trying to avoid having to testify before a Georgia special grand jury that's investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies illegally tried to influence the state's 2020 election.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis early last year, and the special grand jury was to review evidence and hear from witnesses. Willis seeking to have Meadows testify before the panel.
Because Meadows lives outside of Georgia, Willis for his testimony. Instead she has to get a judge in South Carolina, where he lives, to order him to appear.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney in Atlanta, who鈥檚 overseeing the special grand jury, Willis filed for Meadows, certifying that he is a 鈥渘ecessary and material鈥 witness for the investigation.
After receiving the paperwork from Willis' office, a prosecutor in Pickens County, South Carolina, on Sept. 9 to set a hearing to determine whether Meadows must go to Atlanta to testify. In a , a lawyer for Meadows asked the South Carolina judge to deny the request.
Lawyer James Bannister argued in the court filing that Meadows has exerted executive privilege, which is currently being litigated in federal court so he is not a 鈥渕aterial witness.鈥 Meadows invoked that privilege in a fight against subpoenas issued by the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The House held Meadows in for defying the subpoena, but the Justice Department .
Bannister also wrote that the summons before the court is now moot because it sought Meadows鈥 appearance on Sept. 27, which has now passed.
Will Wooten, a prosecutor in Willis鈥 office, said in a made Oct. 7 and filed with the South Carolina court Monday that it鈥檚 his understanding that a hearing hadn鈥檛 been scheduled on the request to compel Meadows鈥 testimony because of scheduling conflicts. He provided several dates in November and asked the court to order Meadows to appear on one of those dates.
Bannister also asserted that the South Carolina law governing out-of-state subpoena requests applies only to criminal proceedings and, therefore, doesn鈥檛 apply because the special grand jury is a civil inquiry.
The special grand jury cannot issue an indictment. Instead, it can recommend action in a report when its investigation is complete. It would then be up to Willis to decide whether to seek an indictment from a regular grand jury.
Despite the special grand jury's inability to indict, McBurney wrote in response to an attempt by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to avoid or delay his testimony that this is, indeed, a criminal investigation.
In the , Willis wrote that Meadows attended a Dec. 21, 2020, meeting at the White House with Trump and others 鈥渢o discuss allegations of voter fraud and certification of electoral college votes from Georgia and other states.鈥 The next day, Willis wrote, Meadows made a 鈥渟urprise visit鈥 to Cobb County, just outside Atlanta, where an audit of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes was being conducted. He asked to observe the audit but wasn鈥檛 allowed to because it wasn鈥檛 open to the public, the petition says.
Meadows also sent emails to Justice Department officials alleging voter fraud in Georgia and elsewhere and requesting investigations, Willis wrote. And he participated in a with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which Trump suggested the state鈥檚 top elections official could 鈥渇ind鈥 enough votes to overturn his narrow election loss in the state.
Meadows is among a number of whose testimony Willis has sought. Former New York Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, who鈥檚 been told he in the probe, . Attorneys and Kenneth Chesebro have also appeared before the panel.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham鈥檚 his subpoena was by a federal appeals court, and he鈥檚 to intervene. include former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
