Ex-Asheville, NC congressman, Trump chief of staff faces lawsuit from book publisher

Mark Meadows, the former congressman for Asheville and Western North Carolina who went on to become White House chief of staff, is being sued by his publisher who says Meadows lied in his book about the 2020 election results.

Conservative publisher All Seasons Press says Meadows in exchange for immunity with prosecutors in the election interference case against President Donald Trump made statements that "squarely contradict the statements in his book, one central theme of which is that President Trump was the true winner of the 2020 Presidential Election and that election was 'stolen' and 'rigged' with the help from 'allies in the liberal media,' who ignored 'actual evidence of fraud, right there in plain sight for anyone to access and analyze,' leading to the wrongful election of President Biden."

Those statements came in "The Chief's Chief," published in 2021.

But ABC News reported last month that Meadows told special counsel Jack Smith and his prosecutors "he repeatedly told Trump in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election that the allegations of significant voting fraud coming to them were baseless, a striking break from Trump's prolific rhetoric regarding the election."

All Seasons filed the Nov. 3 suit in Sarasota County Circuit Court. Meadows, who now lives in Pickens County, South Carolina, was served the same day. He had not filed a response as of Nov. 6, according to court records.

The Citizen Times reached out to Meadows Nov. 6.

Elected in 2012, the Republican Meadows served four terms representing the 11th District, which included western parts of Asheville. A founder of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, he became Trump's chief of staff in 2020.

In its suit, All Seasons says Meadows should return the $350,000 advance for the book, pay for $600,000 in the publisher's out-of-pocket damages and pay at least $1 million each for reputational harm it suffered and expected profit losses on the book, which All Seasons say plunged after Meadows' numerous criminal and civil cases.

After the ABC report, Trump on Oct. 25 targeted Meadows, suggesting his ex-chief of staff would be a weakling and a coward if he testifies against him.

In a pair of Truth Social posts, Trump said he doesn't believe Meadows would turn on him, but noted his former chief of staff has been threatened with prosecution and might be tempted by an immunity agreement.

After leaving the White House, Meadows drew scrutiny for having registered to vote using the address of a Macon County single-wide mobile home where he apparently never lived or visited. He was cleared of election fraud following a State Bureau of Investigation probe and continues to be associated with conservative groups pushing so-called election integrity efforts whose genesis is false claims made by Trump and others about election fraud.

More: Democrats ask court to stop WNC Republicans election fraud law; 'voter suppression'

President Trump visits Mills River, praises farmers, GOP candidate Cawthorn

Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times. 

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Ex-North Carolina GOP Mark Meadows battles rightwing All Seasons Press