Topline
A Georgia prosecutor is seeking testimony from President Donald Trump’s onetime chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorney Sidney Powell before a Georgia grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as the probe continues to scrutinize Trump’s close allies.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows speaks to members of the press outside the West Wing of the … [+]e White House on August 28, 2020.
Key Facts
In filings obtained by Politico, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked a court Thursday to certify that testimony is needed from Meadows, Powell and Trump ally Phil Waldron—a first step in compelling all three witnesses to travel to Georgia from their home states.
The district attorney’s office says it asked Meadows to testify because he sent emails and participated in meetings tied to Trump’s post-election strategy, including an infamous 2021 phone call in which Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to reverse President Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
Powell—who made wild voter fraud claims during her brief stint on the Trump campaign’s post-election legal team—was asked to testify because Trump considered appointing her special counsel to look into unsubstantiated voter fraud allegations, and because she reportedly tried to copy voting machine data from a rural Georgia county.
Waldron was called for testimony because he testified before Georgia lawmakers about voting machines in 2020, and he helped circulate a Powerpoint detailing baseless voter fraud theories and laying out plans to contest the results of the election.
Willis’ office asked the three Trump allies to testify in late September.
Forbes has reached out to Powell and to Waldron and Meadows’ attorneys for comment.
Key Background
The special grand jury in Fulton County is conducting a wide-ranging probe of the Trump team’s behavior after the 2020 election. Willis has suggested she’s looking into the Trump-Raffensperger call, as well as a scheme in which several Georgia Republicans signed certificates falsely claiming Trump—not Biden—won the state’s electoral votes. The investigation has appeared to intensify in recent months: Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani and the Republicans who signed fake elector certificates have been told they’re targets of the investigation, meaning they could face criminal charges. Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is fighting his subpoena in court, and was granted temporary reprieve last weekend.
Tangent
The special grand jury doesn’t have the power to criminally indict anyone, but it can draft recommendations for a separate grand jury to make indictments.
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