Georgia election hearing updates: Court adjourns with no decision yet in Meadows case
Mark Meadows took the stand on Monday.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, charged along with 18 others in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, took the stand on Monday to try to have his trial moved from state to federal court.
Among other charges, the indictment cites Meadows' role in the infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call then-President Donald Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger -- actions that Meadows argues he took as a federal official acting "under color" of his office.
Latest headlines:
- Hearing ends, no decision from the judge
- Raffensperger: Trump's 'outreach to that extent was extraordinary'
- Meadows dodges questions on if he believed Trump won election
- Meadows: 'I don't know that I did anything that was outside of my role'
- Meadows describes 'biggest surprise' in indictment
- Meadows says his role was to be in almost every meeting Trump had
Meadows arrives at federal court
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows arrived at federal court in Atlanta just after 9 a.m. ET for a hearing on his motion to have his trial moved from state to federal court.
Meadows walked in with his lawyers and did not respond to any shouted questions.
-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa
Other defendants keeping 'close eye' on proceedings
As Meadows heads to court Monday, multiple sources close to some of the 18 other Georgia defendants -- which include Trump and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- have told ABC News that the legal teams for many of the defendants will be keeping a "close eye" on the proceedings, with some even sending people to watch in person.
Many involved in the case are uncertain what the ramifications would be if Meadows' case is moved to federal court, the sources said, and whether it would bring along all 19 defendants or leave their cases in state court.
"It is completely untested," one attorney for a defendant in the case told ABC News.
Meadows describes 'biggest surprise' in indictment
Testifying about specific acts alleged in the indictment, Mark Meadows denied some allegations and attempted to describe his involvement as within his duties as White House chief of staff.
The indictment alleged that Meadows and then-President Donald Trump met with White House aide John McEntee twice in December 2020 and requested he prepare a memo about disrupting and delaying the Jan. 6 Joint Session of Congress.
"The strategy included having Vice President Michael R. 'Mike' Pence count only half of the electoral votes from certain states and then return the remaining electoral votes to state legislatures," according to the indictment.
Meadows denied requesting the memo and described that portion of the indictment as the "biggest surprise to me."
Another section of the indictment alleged Meadows traveled to Georgia on Dec. 22, 2020, to observe a signature match audit, which was not open to the public. Officials from the Georgia Secretary of State office and Georgia Bureau of Investigation prevented Meadows from observing the audit, according to the indictment.
Meadows testified that he observed the counting progress and that his actions fell within his responsibilities as chief of staff, including reporting his findings back to Trump.
"I believe I acted like a gentleman," Meadows testified about the interaction.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous, Riley Hoffman and Will Steakin