Former president Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows surrendered in Atlanta as he faces charges in Fulton County, Georgia related to their scheme to overturn the 2020 election results.
The former chief of staff and congressman from North Carolina turned himself in for arrest on Thursday, a little more than a week after a Georgia grand jury led by District Attorney Fani Willis indicted him, Mr Trump and 17 other co-conspirators in a racketeering case for their efforts to overturn the election in Fulton County, where Atlanta is located.
Mr Meadows had previously filed an emergency motion that would have barred authorities in Fulton County from arresting him as a request to move the case against him from state court is pending.
But US District Judge Steve Jones denied a motion from both Mr Meadows and Jeffery Clark, a Trump administration-era official at the Justice Department to delay their court proceedings.
“Meadows cites two cases in support of his argument that the Court can bypass the evidentiary hearing anticipated …. The Court finds neither citation to be persuasive,” Mr Jones wrote in a ruling.
Mr Meadows was required to surrender by Friday 25 August at noon.
“The clear statutory language for removing a criminal prosecution does not support an injunction or temporary stay prohibiting District Attorney Willis’s enforcement or execution of the arrest warrant against Meadows,” Mr Jones wrote.
Mark Meadows is pictured in his mugshot taken at the Fulton County jail— (Fulton County Jail)
The indictment alleges that Mr Meadows arranged the now-infamous recorded phone call between Mr Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, wherein the former president asked Mr Raffensperger to “find” enough non-existent votes to hand the election over to Mr Trump.
President Joe Biden had unexpectedly won Georgia during the 2020 presidential election, but Mr Trump had refused to concede the election, choosing rather to try and overturn the election.
Mr Meadows’s surrender comes shortly after other co-conspirators such as former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, attorney Jenna Ellis, attorney Sidney Powell and attorney John Eastman all turned themselves in and had their mugshot photos taken.
In addition, Mr Trump has said he will turn himself into authorities later on Thursday.
-Andrew Feinberg and Ariana Bao contributed to this report
