Fani Willis 'Overplayed Her Hand' With Mark Meadows: Legal Analyst

Conservative attorney and legal scholar Jonathan Turley warned that Fulton County District Attorney may have "overplayed her hand" by including former President Donald Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in the election interference indictment.

A Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump, Meadows and 17 others this month following Willis' 2 1/2-year investigation into their alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, where Trump narrowly lost to President Joe Biden. The investigation focused on Trump's call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump asked him to find enough votes to tilt the election in his favor, as well as an alleged plot to submit a false slate of pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College.

Meadows has been charged with racketeering and solicitation of a violation of oath by a public officer as part of the investigation and has maintained his innocence. He testified in court on Monday, arguing that his case should be moved to the federal court, which is viewed as potentially more favorable to him, as he was acting his capacity as a federal officer and therefore is entitled to immunity.

Turley provided his analysis on Meadows' testimony in a post to his website, writing that while Willis' case raises "serious allegations of criminal conduct against individual defendants," the scope of the investigation was too broad.

He said Meadows' testimony "highlighted the weakness" of charging Meadows, as well as the use of racketeering charges against Trump and his co-defendants, pointing to Meadows' denial of several key allegations in the indictment.

"The most interesting takeaway is that Willis may have overplayed her hand by including Meadows," Turley wrote. "In doing so, she may have created the strongest avenue for removal. I believe that she hoped that Meadows would 'flip.' Instead, he is leading the charge to federal court."

Meadows denied asking White House personnel officer John McEntee to write a memo on how Vice President Mike Pence could delay the election certification and sending a text to Frances Watson, Raffensperger's office's leading investigator, Turley wrote.

Turley explained how the Meadows indictment could backfire on Willis.

"Even if Judge Jones denies the motion, it can now be appealed and there are solid arguments here in his favor," he wrote. "If Willis showed greater restraint, she could have omitted Meadows and the strongest claim for removal. If he succeeds, it strengthens the case for others to seek removal."

Newsweek reached out to Willis' office via email for comment.

Meadows has been speculated as one of the co-defendants who may be willing to flip on Trump, who reportedly has been "deeply suspicious" of his former chief of staff, Newsweek reported.