WASHINGTON — An Arizona grand jury has indicted Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff and a former congressman, over his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election using a fake slate of electors from the state.
He is among 18 people charged, though his name does not appear in the indictment. Trump is not charged.
Prosecutors gave enough details in the indictment, dated Tuesday and posted on social media by a Politico reporter, to reveal Meadows as one of the defendants whose names are redacted.
Trump is consistently referred to in the indictment as “Unindicted Coconspirator 1.” A description of one of the defendants with redacted names describes him as that co-conspirator’s chief of staff.
Charges for the group include conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, fraudulent schemes and practices and forgery.
Since Meadows’ name is redacted, the full scope of the allegations against him is not immediately clear.
This is the second time Meadows, formerly a congressman from North Carolina, has been indicted for allegations that he tried to overturn the 2020 election. The other case is in Georgia, where he’s facing two charges of racketeering and solicitation of violation of oath of a public officer, according to that indictment.
Meadows has defended himself, saying the actions he is accused of taking were within the purview of his job as a chief of staff.
The fake electors
The latest indictment details how those close to Trump worked with a fake group of electors from Arizona to try to overthrow the election results, where Biden won by more than 10,000 votes.
“In Arizona, and the United States, the people elected Joseph Biden as President on November 3, 2020,” the indictment states. “Unwilling to accept this fact, Defendants and unindicted coconspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to keep Unindicted Coconspirator 1 in office against the will of Arizona’s voters.”
The indictment further states that the scheme would have deprived Arizonans of their right to vote and have their votes counted.
Among those indicted are 11 people described as the Arizona Fake Electors. They’re accused of declaring Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence as the winners of the 2020 election in Arizona, despite voter intent.
The other seven people indicted include Meadows, Trump’s director of Election Day operations and five attorneys, one of whom was a campaign aide. Their names have been redacted from the indictment, though The Washington Post is identifying them as Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, Christina Bob, Trump’s campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn and former campaign aide Mike Roman.
Meadows is specifically accused of working “with members of the Trump campaign to coordinate and implement the false Republican electors’ votes in Arizona and six other states.” It further accuses him of being involved in many efforts to keep Trump in power, despite losing the election.
Before working in the Trump administration, Meadows represented North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, in the state’s farthest southwestern counties. He was succeeded by former Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who lost his reelection in 2022 to Rep. Chuck Edwards.
Trump faces four criminal indictments in other cases, including accusations of interference in the 2020 election and an alleged hush money scheme in a case on trial now.
_____
©2024 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.