Mark Meadows Asks Court to Dismiss Election Interference Charges, Arguing He Was Fulfilling Demands of His Job

Mark Meadows is asking a federal court to throw out charges against him, arguing he was simply carrying out his duties as a government official.

Meadows, who served as chief of staff under former President Donald Trump, was among those indicted earlier this month following an investigation into efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results. Meadows was charged with two counts, including racketeering — a serious charge that carries a minimum sentence of five years — and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

In a document filed over the weekend, he asked the court to dismiss the charges, saying that his conduct only arose because of his role under Trump and that it "falls squarely within the scope of [his] duties as Chief of Staff and the federal policy underlying that role," per CNN.

That conduct includes his participation in a now-infamous phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which the former president urged Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes," so he could take the state's Electoral College votes from Joe Biden.

The latest court filing comes days after Meadows' attorneys requested that the hearing be moved from state to federal court.

The indictment against Meadows and 18 others in Trump's orbit was unsealed last week, following some 10 hours of grand jury testimony. The former president himself was charged with more than a dozen felonies, including filing false documents, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree and false statements and writings.

Others charged in the indictment include Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still; attorneys John Eastman, Bob Cheeley, Ray Smith III and Kenneth Chesebro; former assistant U.S. attorney general Jeffrey Clark; GOP strategist Michael Roman; former Coffee County elections supervisor Misty Hampton; former Coffee County GOP chairwoman Cathy Latham; Atlanta bail bondsman Scott Hall; celebrity publicist Trevian Kutti; Illinois pastor Stephen Cliffguard Lee; and Harrison Floyd, who served as director of Black Voices for Trump.

CNN reports that the legal team for Meadows cut off communication with attorneys for Trump, causing speculation that the former chief of staff could turn on the former president.

Recent reporting by ABC News indicates that Meadows has also spoken to investigators about another investigation into Trump that centers around his handling of classified documents.

According to ABC, Meadows told federal investigators that he could not recall Trump ordering the declassification of classified materials before leaving the White House, despite that the former president has claimed he had a "standing order" to declassify documents during his presidency.