Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has taken the stand in Atlanta as he argues his charges in the Georgia election case should be moved to federal court, according to multiple reports.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other outlets reported Meadows unexpectedly testified for hours on Monday and will continue in the afternoon.
Meadows is attempting to move his charges from state court to federal court so he can assert immunity and get the counts dismissed.
To switch courts, Meadows must show he was a federal officer, the allegations relate to an act taken “under color of such office” and he has a plausible federal defense.
“I don’t know that I did anything that was outside my scope as chief of staff,” Meadows testified, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Meadows is the first of five of the co-defendants in the case so far to file to move their charges.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, who is overseeing Meadows’s hearing, is also assigned to hear the others’ requests. He has scheduled hearings for two of them on Sept. 18 but has not yet acted on the other three co-defendants’ requests.
Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis (D) charged Meadows alongside Trump and 17 others over accusations about their efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Meadows reportedly disputed multiple factual points contained in the indictment at Wednesday’s hearing.
He is alleged to have participated in a White House meeting with Trump and Pennsylvania state lawmakers after the election, but Meadows said he only showed up to inform three of the lawmakers they had tested positive for COVID-19 and had to leave, according to The Washington Post.