Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows ordered to testify in Georgia election inquiry

Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows was ordered to testify before an Atlanta-area grand jury in a wide-ranging investigation of election interference.

Meadows, who was a central figure in Donald Trump's unsuccessful effort to flip the 2020 Georgia vote in the former president's favor, had been resisting a subpoena issued by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the criminal inquiry.

A local judge in South Carolina, where Meadows now resides, issued the ruling following a brief hearing Wednesday.

Meadows was a party to a January 2021 telephone call in which Trump pressed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to deny President Joe Biden's victory in the key battleground state.

Meadows' attorneys have disputed the authority of the Fulton County grand jury, called to consider evidence in the case, asserting that it lacked the jurisdiction to issue indictments and therefore could not compel a witness to testify in a criminal proceeding.

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Lawyers for the former White House official also said Meadows was shielded from providing testimony in the case because his communications with the former president were privileged.

"Specifically, Mr. Meadows has been instructed by the former president to preserve certain privileges and immunities attaching to his former office as White House chief of staff," attorneys argued in court documents.

Meadows is among a number of high-profile Trump aides who have attempted to resist appearing before the Georgia grand jury.

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday temporarily blocked a subpoena for Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a staunch ally of the former president, while the Supreme Court considers his appeal.

In the original summons for Meadows issued in August, the Fulton County district attorney cast the former White House official as a "material witness" to possible election fraud, citing his involvement in arranging Trump's Jan. 2, 2021 call to Raffensperger.

"The witness possesses unique knowledge concerning relevant communications between the witness, former President Donald Trump, the Trump Campaign and other known and unknown individuals in the multi-state coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere," prosecutors said in court documents.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mark Meadows ordered to testify in Georgia election investigation