Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows must testify to a grand jury investigating possible misconduct related to the 2020 presidential election, a judge in South Carolina ruled on Oct. 26.
Meadows resides in South Carolina.
He is being pursued by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat who convened the grand jury to investigate alleged attempts by Meadows and others to influence the results of the 2020 election.
Willis cited Meadows’s involvement in a Dec. 21, 2020, meeting with Trump and others to discuss the certification of Electoral College votes from Georgia, as well as his visit the following day to the Cobb County Civic Center in Marietta, where absentee ballot signature matches were being made, as evidence that he should be questioned in the investigation.
Lawyers for Meadows said in a statement that the legal document seeking his testimony, a certificate of attendance lodged with the court, is “without effect” in South Carolina.
“Because of the unusual nature of the Georgia proceeding, some of these issues have never been addressed in South Carolina. We are looking into legal options based on the judge’s ruling from the bench. It would be inappropriate to comment further on these issues until the Judge has issued a final written order,” they said.
A spokesman for Willis didn’t pick up the phone or return a voicemail.
In court filings, Meadows argued that even if the petition for an appearance wasn’t dismissed, he wouldn’t be a “material witness” because of constitutional protections such as executive privilege.
He was originally supposed to appear for a September interview, but he took the matter to court.
Willis has sought a number of people who worked in the Trump White House or were allies of President Donald Trump, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani spoke to the grand jury in August after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Christopher Brasher found he was a “necessary and material witness.”
