North Carolina DOJ Not Charging Mark Meadows

Then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows talks to reporters at the White House in Washington, on Oct. 21, 2020. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

The North Carolina Department of Justice announced on Friday that there isn’t enough evidence to charge former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in connection with alleged voter fraud in the 2020 election.

The state DOJ’s investigation was prompted by a report in the New Yorker that alleged Meadows potentially committed voter fraud by listing a Scaly Mountain, North Carolina address on his registration form as his residence as of Sept. 20, 2020—three weeks before voter registration cut off.

The report further raised questions about whether Meadows, who worked in the White House during the Trump administration, and his wife actually resided at the residence or used it as a way to vote in the North Carolina elections.

Ultimately, the investigation found there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute Meadows and his wife, Debra Meadows, on voter fraud charges.

The state DOJ found that Meadows was engaged in public service in Washington, D.C., and therefore qualified for a residency exception and that his wife signed a year-long lease for the Scaly Mountain residence provided by their landlord.

Further, Debra Meadows was in and around Scaly Mountain in October 2020, according to cell phone records.

“My office has concluded that there is not sufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt against either Mr. or Mrs. Meadows, so my office will not prosecute this case,” said North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein in a statement.

“If further information relevant to the allegations of voter fraud comes to light in any subsequent investigation or prosecution by authorities in other jurisdictions, we reserve the right to reopen this matter,” he continued.

Stein noted that Meadows “made numerous unfounded, damaging allegations about voter fraud both before and after the 2020 election” but conceded that “none of the matters involving January 6th, however, are relevant to the specific allegations of voter fraud concerning Mr. and Mrs. Meadows that were referred to my office for review.”

Grand Jury Order

On Nov. 29, South Carolina’s top court ordered Meadows to testify to a grand jury in Georgia investigating possible election-related misconduct.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, filed a plea with a South Carolina court claiming Meadows is a “material witness” in the investigation into suspected presidential election fraud in 2020.

Willis argued that Meadows should be questioned in the probe, citing his involvement in a Dec. 21, 2020, meeting with former President Donald 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.

Meadows attempted to avoid testifying after the grand jury issued subpoenas, saying that he could not be compelled to testify because the special grand jury was not conducting a criminal investigation. He has also argued that he is shielded from testifying by executive privilege and that South Carolina law doesn’t apply to Georgia’s request.

Judge Edward Miller of the South Carolina Circuit Court dismissed the allegations, ruling in October that “the witness is material and necessary to the investigation and that the state of Georgia is assuring not to cause undue hardship to him.”

Miller’s ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court.