Former President Donald J. Trump said he hoped Mark Meadows, his last White House chief of staff and a co-defendant in a sweeping Georgia racketeering indictment stemming from efforts to thwart the 2020 election, would still be “loyal” to him.
Trump made his comment during a lengthy interview with Kristen Welker, the new moderator of NBC’s “Meet The Press,” broadcast Sunday morning. The federal judge in a case also stemming from his efforts to remain in office, brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith, has warned Trump to avoid saying anything that could affect witness testimony. His comment about Meadows could attract new interest.
An attorney for Meadows did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Both Meadows and Trump are among 19 co-defendants in the Fulton County, Georgia, indictment brought by District Attorney Fani T. Willis. She accuses the defendants of criminal conspiracy to overturn Trump’s loss in the state in his re-election effort.
“By the way, do you think your former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is still loyal to you?” He just pleaded not guilty in the Georgia case,” asked Mrs. Welker.
“Well, I hope he’s loyal to me,” Trump said.
“Are you worried about him turning around?” Mrs. Welker asked.
“I mean, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump responded.
Legal experts have suggested that prosecutors could push for some of the defendants in the case to plead guilty and become witnesses against others involved.
Trump recorded the interview with Welker late last week. On Friday, a day after the interview, prosecutors asked the judge in the federal election interference case, Tanya S. Chutkan, for a limited gag order against Trump after weeks of attacks on the special counsel, among others.
“Like his previous public misinformation campaign regarding the 2020 presidential election,” they wrote, “the defendant’s recent extrajudicial statements are intended to undermine public confidence in an institution (the judicial system) and undermine the trust and intimidate the people (the court, the tribunal). pool of jurors, witnesses and prosecutors,” Mr. Smith’s office wrote in the request, which they said they wanted to be narrowly tailored.
Trump attacked Smith again shortly after the request was made, writing on his social media site: “I am campaigning for president against an incompetent person who has ARMED the Department of Justice and the FBI to go after his political opponent, and I am You are not allowed to COMMENT? How else could I explain that Jack Smith is deranged or that Crooked Joe is INCOMPETENT?
Judge Chutkan has not yet ruled on the request.
In his “Meet the Press” interview, Trump broadly reiterated his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, despite facing accusations in both Georgia and Washington over the matter.
When Welker pointed out that his administration’s top lawyers had told him, after dozens of legal challenges, that he had lost and that he was listening to outside groups of lawyers, Trump said it was because “I don’t respect them.”
“But he did respect others. “I respected many others who said the election was rigged,” Trump said.
And when Ms. Welker noted that he himself had allegedly said that some of his outside lawyers had “crazy theories” about election interference, she responded: “You know who I listen to? Myself. I saw what happened. “I saw those elections and I thought they were over at 10 at night.”
As she asked him new questions, he continued, “My instincts are a big part of this. That’s what has gotten me to where I am, my instincts. But I also listen to people. There are many lawyers. I could give you many books.” But in the end he told her: “It was my decision. But I listened to some people.”
Trump’s remarks were in line with his efforts to raise what is known as a defense counsel in the election interference case (and yet they could ultimately complicate it). Under this strategy, defendants seek to avoid liability for criminal charges by arguing that they were simply following the professional advice of their attorneys.
Alan Feuer contributed reporting.
