Mark Meadows, a former Trump White House chief of staff, pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges Friday in Arizona.
The plea comes six weeks after Meadows and others were indicted by a grand jury for their alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state, which Democrat Joe Biden won by just over 10,000 votes.
The charges include conspiracy, fraud, and forgery in an indictment that alleges Trump campaign members submitted names of fake electors to subvert Biden’s victory. Meadows also is alleged to have “confided in a White House staff member in early November 2020 that [then-President Donald Trump] had lost the election.”
Meadows has also pleaded not guilty in the Georgia 2020 election case, in which Trump was also indicted. When that indictment was handed down, Meadows became the second White House chief of staff to face criminal charges, joining Bob Haldeman, who was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury for his role in the Watergate scandal.
Mike Roman, who was Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020, also pleaded not guilty to the charges in Arizona.
“Mike Roman has no connection with Arizona,” Roman attorney Kurt Altman told reporters outside the Maricopa County Superior Courthouse. “Why this indictment came in the first place is beyond us, but we’re going to face the reality and defend.”
Others charged in the case include former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, both of whom have pleaded not guilty. The former president himself is listed as an unindicted co-conspirator.
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Another ex-Trump attorney, Jenna Ellis, also faces charges in Arizona but has yet to enter a plea. She is one of four defendants in the Georgia case who pleaded guilty.
The Arizona trial is set to begin on Oct. 31, five days before Election Day.
