Here’s what happened during a busy day in the Donald Trump criminal cases
From CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand
A trial date was set Monday right in the middle of the 2024 presidential primary calendar for former President Donald Trump, while his former chief of staff took the stand in Georgia in what amounted to a mini-trial in the election subversion case there.
Here’s what to know from a busy and significant day in Trump’s multiple trials:
- Trial in the middle of primary season: Judge Tanya Chutkan’s announced trial date for the charges brought by the special counsel, March 4, is just one day before Super Tuesday when over a dozen states will hold their primary elections. A March trial for the former president in Washington, DC, over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election will undoubtedly play a role in his run to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.
- Mark Meadows takes the stand: A federal hearing in Georgia began with a surprising twist: Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows took the stand to testify in his own bid to move his case from state court to federal court. Such a move could end up with the charges being dismissed and change the entire tenor of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ prosecution of Trump and 18 co-defendants.
- Meadows denied election disruption allegation: During his testimony, Meadows denied one of the allegations in the indictment, saying he “did not ask” Trump White House aide John McEntee to write a memo about how to disrupt the certification of the election on January 6, 2021. Meadows was pressed by prosecutors on how the federal government had a role in a state’s determination of its election results. “There is a role for the chief of staff to make sure those campaign goals and objectives are implemented at the federal level,” Meadows testified.
- Prosecutors plan to use Trump’s statements: The former president, his legal team and his political surrogates have repeatedly criticized the Justice Department, Chutkan and residents of Washington, DC, in online posts and media appearances. While there is no restriction on Trump’s ability to make those comments – despite a limited restriction on his ability to discuss specific evidence in the case – prosecutors made clear they will be taking what is said publicly into consideration when arguing to the judge. Chutkan – in closing Monday’s hearing – said she would be “watching carefully for anything that might affect that jury pool or poison that jury pool” in the lead-up to the March 4 trial date.
