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' lawyers make final argument to judge
Mark Meadows’ legal team began its final argument to the judge.
They contended that removing this case to federal court requires them to meet "the lowest evidentiary burden one can imagine."
The defense just needs to show "some kind of… connection to the duties" of chief of staff to warrant removal, Meadows’ lawyer said.
He said a "critical aspect" of Meadows’ testimony Monday was that he took the actions he did related to the Jan. 2, 2021, call to get "closure" so the government could move on "to the rest of the transition and peaceful transfer of power."
The lawyer also said that "the federal government has a huge role in post-election matters."
-ABC News' Mike Levine
Raffensperger: 'We spoke the truth'
After prosecutors played a portion of the Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between then-President Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, prosecutors asked Raffensperger, "Did Trump win?"
"No, he did not," Raffensperger responded, adding, "He lost the election in the state of Georgia."
Raffensperger then listed off the investigations he and his team conducted into allegations of voter fraud, rattling them off one by one, stating that none of them found evidence of voter fraud.
"You add that all up, none of that was sufficient," Raffensperger said. "We spoke the truth."
Raffensperger finished testifying after over one hour on the stand.
Raffensperger: Trump's 'outreach to that extent was extraordinary'
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger testified about the impact of Donald Trump's pressure to challenge the results in Georgia.
Raffensperger also testified that he faced "multiple threats" to himself and his wife due to the false allegations of election fraud.
Prosecutors, discussing the Jan. 2, 2021, call between Raffensperger and Trump, asked Raffensperger if the election results could have been changed. Raffensperger replied, "We hadn't crossed that bridge yet, but I wouldn't think so."
When asked about Trump's efforts, Raffensperger said an "outreach to that extent was extraordinary."
The prosecution played audio clips from the Trump-Raffensperger call in court.
Raffensperger noted, at the prosecutor's prodding, that no one from the Department of Justice or the White House counsel's office was on the call.
"I thought that it was a campaign call," he said.
The defense tried to underscore that federal law enforcement has an interest in investigating fraud allegations, but Raffensperger then noted that when law enforcement investigates fraud allegations, they're asked to turn information over to the FBI or prosecutors, not a campaign.
-ABC News' Riley Hoffman, Mike Levine, Soorin Kim and Will Steakin
Raffensperger testifies
When Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger took the stand, he was asked directly what role the federal government plays in the certification of elections. He responded, "None."
Prosecutors followed up and asked if the president has any role in the certification of an election. Raffensperger responded, "Not from my understanding."
When asked if Donald Trump's team won the 2020 presidential election, Raffensperger said, "They lost the election."
Prosecutors then asked who won, and Raffensperger responded, "Now-President Biden."
Raffensperger testified about Meadows’ efforts to reach him before the Jan. 2, 2021, call, including a November 2020 text telling Raffensperger to call him. But Raffensperger said he didn't call him back. He said it would be inappropriate to have "outside forces" weighing in on the state's inquiries into alleged fraud.
-ABC News' Nadine El-Bawab
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