With each day and each new court filing from attorneys representing co-conspirators who allegedly worked with disgraced former president Donald Trump to try and overturn 2020 election results in the state of Georgia, it becomes clearer that many of those charged are eager and willing to toss the ex-president under the bus in order to save their own asses, according to a report from Politico.
One of those co-defendants is former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
During a hearing in Atlanta, a defense attorney for Meadows called attention to Trump’s prominent role in what is certain to be a crucial element of prosecutors’ case there: the infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump demanded that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, “find” enough votes to declare Trump the winner.
Meadows arranged that pivotal call. But after prosecutors played audio of the call in the courtroom, an attorney for Meadows emphasized that his client’s part in the actual discussion was both more minor and less provocative than Trump’s.
“There’s a lot of statements by Mr. Trump. Mr. Meadows’ speaking roles were quite limited,” Meadows’ lawyer, Michael Francisco, observed as he cross-examined Raffensperger, who was called to testify by prosecutors.
“He didn’t make a request that you change the vote totals — Mr. Meadows, himself?” Francisco continued.
“Correct,” Raffensperger replied.
And then there was this, which also appeared in court documents:
Meadows made clear in his own testimony at last week’s hearing that Trump viewed the false electors as a significant part of his strategy to remain in power. He said he sent an email pushing the campaign to assemble those slates because he feared a tongue-lashing from Trump.
“What I didn’t want to happen was for the campaign to prevail in court action and not have this” lined up, he said.
“Why?” prosecutor Anna Cross asked him.
“Because I knew I’d be yelled at by the president of the United States,” he said.
The Georgia racketeering charges filed against Trump and 18 co-defendants by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis could send each person to prison in the Peach State for decades, meaning that everyone associated with the conspiracy has a strong incentive to cooperate with prosecutors or prepare for a long term of incarceration.
Trump has also been indicted in Florida and Washington, D.C. by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
