Former WNC Rep. Mark Meadows indicted along with Trump
Mark Meadows. File photo
With former President Donald Trump’s most recent indictment — his fourth in five months — comes a slew of familiar names like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, but there’s at least one more name included in the list of Trump’s co-defendants that’s well known to Western North Carolina voters.
Mark Meadows represented North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District from 2012 until his March 30, 2020, resignation, shortly before he was named as Trump’s chief of staff.
On Aug. 14, Trump, Meadows and 17 others were indicted by a Georgia grand jury for an alleged scheme to overturn lawful election results in the state, which Trump lost.
Not all defendants were charged with each of the 41 felony counts in the indictment, however all defendants were charged under the Georgia RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) Act, which alleges that between Nov. 4, 2020, and Sept. 15, 2022, defendants “… while associated with an enterprise, unlawfully conspired and endeavored to conduct and participate in, directly and indirectly, such enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity in violation of O.C.G.A. § 16-14-4(b).”
Meadows was also charged, as was Trump, with the felony count of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer. The charge comes in relation to the infamous Jan. 2 phone conference Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which Trump implored Raffensperger “to find 11,780 votes” because he believed he had won by “hundreds of thousands of votes.”
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The phone call was first introduced during Trump’s second impeachment. Trump has since referred to the call as “perfect.”
A conviction under the RICO statute could result in a prison term of between five and 20 years, plus a fine. The solicitation charge carries a penalty of one to five years in prison.
— Cory Vaillancourt, Politics Editor
