During testimony in federal court, Trump’s final White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, claimed he decided on the spur of the moment to demonstrate personal initiative as Chief of Staff during a holiday visit to his children in Georgia when he wandered over to the Fulton County site where one of the numerous 2020 vote recounts was occurring, according to the Washington Post. Meadows faces questioning from prosecutors, with lawyers for Donald Trump and other defendants reportedly sitting in the courtroom observing.
Meadows wants his Georgia RICO trial held in federal court, where cameras are not allowed and where the jury pool would come from a wider area than just Fulton County, which is heavily Democratic. Meadows’s defense is that he was working in his official capacity to investigate election irregularities, which could conceivably come marginally under the auspices of a political appointee, but Meadow’s actions undermine his claim that it was an official, non-partisan action. Meadows was also part of calls to Georgia officials during which Trump implored them to “find” enough votes for him to win the state.
With the hearing being held in federal court, reporters are not allowed to have electronic devices like cell phones or laptop computers in the courtroom, so reports are coming sporadically from reporters who can leave the room momentarily.