Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows made a surprise appearance on the witness stand Monday as he seeks to move his Fulton County charges to federal court, according to The Wall Street Journal. Meadows testified during an evidentiary hearing that his actions following the 2020 election were part of his official White House duties. At one point Meadows said he didn't want to reveal any classified information during his testimony. "I'm in enough trouble as it is," he said.
MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin pointed out that most former prosecutors did not expect Meadows to testify because the risks on cross-examination "would simply be too great." That Meadows' experienced attorney, George Twelliger, allowed his client to testify shows that "Meadows and his team believe moving his case to federal court is so critical that it's worth the risk of his being cross-examined" and that they've concluded that "they had no other way of shouldering their burden of proof that he was acting as a federal officer beyond Meadows's own testimony," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. That suggests that Meadows' team was unable to convince any of his allies to testify on his behalf "or that because of the secrecy with which they operated, no such witnesses exist. Either one is not a good look," she added.
