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Mark Meadows, Donald Trump's former White House chief of staff, has taken a "risky" move with his choice of declarant while attempting to move his Georgia election interference case to a federal court, according to a legal expert.
Meadows has been charged with racketeering and solicitation of a violation of oath by a public officer as part of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' expansive probe into alleged criminal attempts to overturn the 2020 election. He testified in court on Monday arguing that he acted in his capacity as a federal officer and therefore is entitled to immunity as his case should be overseen by a federal judge.
Four other defendants in the sprawling RICO case—former justice department official Jeffery Clark and three members of the group of the Georgia fake elector scheme, David Shafer, Shawn Still and Cathy Latham—have also taken steps to have their case moved to a federal court. Trump is also expected to file a similar request, possibly delaying the start of what is already potentially a mammoth trial that could last several months.
On Monday, the exhibit list for Meadows' day in court—which details the parties who intend to offer admission into evidence—was made public.
As noted by Lisa Rubin, an attorney and legal analyst for MSNBC, one of those who Meadows listed as a declarant was his former spokesperson Ben Williamson, who was previously criticized for calling ex-Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson ahead of her deposition to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack.
Williamson is alleged to have asked Hutchinson to "do the right thing tomorrow" and not to implicate him or Meadows with her testimony.
"Meadows's exhibit list from today has been filed with the court. And the identity of at least one of his declarants is unsurprising but still risky," Rubin posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"On the eve of one of Cassidy Hutchinson's interviews with the Jan. 6th committee, she received a voice mail from another former aide to Meadows, who assured her Meadows knew she was loyal and would 'do the right thing' 'to protect him and the boss.'
"That aide's name is... Ben Williamson. And maybe he's not the best person to demonstrate how Meadows was always acting on the up-and-up?" Rubin added.
Meadows' legal team has been contacted for comment via email.
Hutchinson's live televised testimony during the January 6 House Select Committee's hearings in 2022 was among the most damning for Trump.
Among some of the bombshell claims from Hutchinson was that Trump was aware his supporters were armed on January 6 but still told them to march to the Capitol, and that he didn't care that his supporters were chanting "hang Mike Pence" during the riot.
Hutchinson also testified she was told that Trump was so irate at not being able to join his supporters at the Capitol as the violence was unfolding that he tried to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limousine and then lunged at a Secret Service agent who tried to calm him down. Trump denied the claims from Hutchinson.
In December 2022, a transcription of Hutchinson's deposition to the panel was released, during which she described how Williamson had called the night before to advise her on what to say.
"He said something to the effect of, 'Well, Mark wants me to let you know that he knows you're loyal and he knows you'll do the right thing tomorrow and that you're going to protect him and the boss,'" Hutchinson told the House panel.
Former Pentagon Special Counsel Ryan Goodman suggested at the time that the transcription was "essentially Exhibit One for the trial of Mark Meadows for witness tampering."
During his three-hour testimony on Monday, Meadows claimed that he was always acting within his White House role with his actions in and around the 2020 election.
This included arranging the January 2021 phonecall between Trump and Brad Raffensperger, in which the former president asked the Georgia Secretary of State to "find" the 11,870 votes needed to beat President Joe Biden in the state at the last election, which triggered Willis' criminal inquiry.
"I don't know that I did anything that was outside of my role as chief of staff," Meadows testified.
"I saw it as part of my role," Meadows added. "The president gave clear direction to deal with it."
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more