Mark Meadows pleads not guilty to Georgia charges of trying to steal 2020 election

Meadows, one of 19 co-defendants in the case with Donald Trump, is charged with asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to violate his oath of office.

Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, pleaded not guilty in a court filing posted Tuesday in the court docket to Georgia racketeering charges alleging he tried to help Trump steal the 2020 election.

Meadows and 18 co-defendants headed by Donald Trump were indicted in Fulton County on Aug. 14 on a combined 41 charges. By entering a plea through a court filing, he avoided needing to appear Wednesday at a scheduled arraignment hearing. Meadows remains free on $100,000 bond pending trial.

Meadows acknowledged he has discussed the charges with his lawyer, James Durham, and waived his right to an arraignment hearing. He filed the document Friday and it was posted Tuesday.

Meadows continues to fight to move his case from Fulton County Superior Court to federal court by arguing his former federal job should protect him from state level charges. Four co-defendants who are also asking to move their cases to federal court − former assistant attorney general Jeffrey Clark, Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer, state Sen. Shawn Still and Cathy Latham − have also pleaded not guilty to their charges and waived their hearings.

Other co-defendants whose not guilty pleas were posted Tuesday were John Eastman, Michael Roman and Harrison Floyd.

Co-defendants who previously filed written pleas of not guilty and waived their rights to a hearing included Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Ray Smith, Robert Cheeley, Trevian Kutti, Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis, Scott Hall and Stephen Lee each filed written pleas.

The only co-defendant whose plea has not yet been posted in the court docket is Misty Hampton.

Meadows is trying to have his case moved from Fulton County Superior Court to federal court based by arguing he was a federal official at the time and the actions alleged in the indictment were part of his official duties. But U.S. District Judge Steve Jones told Meadows to enter a plea if he hadn't reached a decision by the arraignment deadline Sept. 6.Besides the racketeering count charged against all defendants, Meadows was charged with soliciting Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to violate his oath of office.

Meadows participated in Trump's call on Jan. 2, 2021, urging Raffensperger to “find” the votes he needed to win the state. By that point, Trump had tried to call him 18 times and Raffensperger had avoided taking the calls, according to the House investigation.

“I just want to find 11,780 votes,” Trump said during the call. “Give me a break. You know, we have that in spades already.”