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 recounts December 2020 meeting about election-related allegations
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said on the stand that he maintained a "general awareness" of efforts following the 2020 presidential election to investigate allegations of fraud, but he added that there are some things he has only learned recently.
Meadows was asked about a meeting at the White House in December 2020 where Attorney General William Barr said he would resign. Meadows recalled that the meeting was about election-related allegations concerning fraud and election irregularities. He testified that Barr told then-President Donald Trump a lot of the election claims "had no merit" and that "some of it, to use his terms, was 'bulls---.'"
Meadows said he attended a meeting in the Oval Office with Michigan state legislators over allegations of potential fraud in his "official capacity as chief of staff" because he needed to be able to advise Trump.
-ABC News' Nadine El-Bawab
Meadows says his role was to be in almost every meeting Trump had
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said on the stand Monday that his role involved setting up meetings and communications with various agencies and states.
Meadows said his role was to be in almost every meeting the president had, and he described his role as more difficult than he could have imagined. He described the time after the 2020 election as more than he could handle.
-ABC News' Riley Hoffman
Meadows takes the stand
The hearing began shortly after 10 a.m. with the defense calling Mark Meadows to the stand.
The defense went over Meadows' duties as chief of staff and assistant to former President Donald Trump.
On the stand, Meadows said it was his role to "oversee all the federal operations, not just in the West Wing, but beyond that."
Meadows also said the job was difficult in light of the pandemic, calling it "challenging times."
"There was a political component to everything that we did," Meadows said in describing the intersection between policy and politics inside the Trump White House in the chaotic closing days of the administration.
Meadows, wearing a royal blue suit, white shirt and pale blue tie in court, said he attended meetings as a principle and sometimes as an observer.
Meadows said he would "certainly meet with state officials" as part of his job.
At least one attorney for Trump, Jennifer Little, was spotted in the overflow room listening to the proceedings.
-ABC News' Nadine El-Bawab and Aaron Katersky
Arraignments set for Sept. 6
Fulton County, Georgia, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has scheduled the plea hearings and arraignments for all 19 defendants alleged to have conspired to overturn the 2020 election for Wednesday, Sept. 6.
The arraignments are staggered over 15-minute intervals, beginning with former President Donald Trump at 9:30 a.m. and concluding with Misty Hampton at 3 p.m.
Former chief of staff Mark Meadows' appearance is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous
Meadows: 'I don't know that I did anything that was outside of my role'
Court is in a brief recess after Mark Meadows testified for nearly three hours without breaks.
On the stand, Meadows firmly stood by his actions -- including observing the audit in Cobb County, Georgia, and setting up then-President Donald Trump's call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger -- putting it squarely as part of his role as chief of staff.
"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 said. "The president gave clear direction to deal with it."
Meadows said serving Trump "takes on all kinds of forms" and that much of the work had a "political component to certainly everything."
Meadows was careful with his words, at one point saying he didn't want to say anything incorrectly, while joking, "I'm in enough trouble as it is."
Attorneys for Trump were seated in the second row as Meadows testified.
-ABC News' Mike Levine, Aaron Katersky and Will Steakin