Former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and UNC law graduate Sidney Powell are the North Carolina ties among the 18 allies of former President Donald Trump facing indictments in Georgia related to the 2020 election.
Meadows led Trump’s staff from March 31, 2020, to Jan. 20, 2021, after having been the state’s representative for the 11th Congressional District from 2013-20. Powell is a Durham native, with undergrad and law degrees from UNC Chapel Hill, who began her federal prosecuting career in the Western District of Texas in 1978.
The indictment in Fulton County, brought by third-year District Attorney Fani Willis, includes 13 counts against Trump of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. There are 161 improper acts described in the document.
President Joe Biden narrowly won the state’s 16 electoral college votes, part of his 306-232 triumph.
Trump is a front-runner among Republican candidates in the 2024 presidential campaign, challenged most closely — albeit distant — by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump has also been indicted in New York, Florida and Washington, D.C.
In the latest indictment, there are two counts tied to Meadows and seven linked with Powell. Trump and the other 18 are facing the count of violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, also known as the RICO Act.
Georgia, like some other states, has adopted a state RICO definition that is broader than the federal statute, and Willis is known for making use of it. A pardon, if sought, would have to come from the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles rather than a sitting president.
Only Meadows and Trump face the 28th count in the indictment, solicitation of Violation of Oath by public officer. They are accused of asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to unlawfully alter, adjust and otherwise influence “certified returns for presidential electors for the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia,” the indictment says.
Meadows from 1983-86 was manager and coordinator in customer relations and public safety with Tampa Electric, according to his biography on Ballotpedia. He was owner of a sandwich shop from 1986-90; and has been a real estate developer since 1990.
Powell, in addition to the RICO Act, faces indictments on counts 32 through 37. Two of those are Conspiracy to Commit Election Fraud, and the others are Conspiracy to Commit Computer Theft, Conspiracy to Commit Computer Trespass, Conspiracy to Commit Computer Invasion of Privacy, and Conspiracy to Defraud the State. Also facing those charges, among others, is Cathleen Alston Latham, Scott Graham Hall and Misty Hampton.
The indictment says those acts happened between Dec. 1, 2020, and Jan. 7, 2021. It involves accusations of tampering with electronic ballot markers and tabulating machines, and a payment to SullivanStrickler; and taking, appropriating, removing, examining and stealing voter information and data on software that was the property of Dominion Voting Systems Corp.
Powell, according to her LinkedIn biography, is president at Defending the Republic in Dallas. It says her specialties are “consulting in complex commercial litigation and federal appeals, corporate, legal and political strategy.” She’s author of the book, “Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the DOJ”; and has been at the law firm of her name since 1992.
Powell followed her time in the Texas federal office from 1978 to 1986 with a five-month stint in 1985 as assistant U.S. attorney in Norfolk, Virginia; then returned to the Northern District of Texas federal office from June 1986 to November 1988.
