Meadows ordered to testify in Georgia election probe

(The Hill) -- A Georgia circuit judge on Wednesday ordered former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to testify in an elections probe launched by a Georgia prosecutor, just days after he asked for a subpoena to be blocked.

Circuit Judge Edward Miller ruled that Meadows needed to cooperate in the probe by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D), which is looking at possible 2020 election interference in the state by former President Donald Trump and his allies.

“I am going to find that the witness is material and necessary to the investigation and that the state of Georgia is assuring not to cause undue hardship to him,” Miller ruled, according to CNN. 

Meadows’s team said they are planning to appeal the ruling, according to The New York Times.

Willis is looking into possible 2020 election interference in Georgia, which was initiated after a January 2021 conversation came to light of Trump urging Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger to find more than 11,000 votes needed to reverse President Joe Biden's win there. 

Willis subpoenaed Meadows in August, noting that he had been a part of a meeting in December 2020 with Trump and others "to discuss allegations of voter fraud and the certification of the electoral college votes from Georgia and other states."

She also noted Meadows' attempt to observe an audit of election results in the state and also stated that the former Trump official was involved in the infamous call with Raffensberger. 

A South Carolina judge was required to sign off on Willis' subpoena given that Meadows does not live in South Carolina. The former Trump official sought to stop the subpoena's approval, arguing that the probe is not a criminal one, and therefore he cannot be required to comply.

The Hill reached out to Meadows’s lawyer for comment.