Mark Meadows enters a plea of not guilty in Georgia election case

ATLANTA >> Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of participating in an illegal scheme to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. He will not appear in court in Atlanta this week.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had scheduled arraignment hearings for Wednesday for Meadows, former President Donald Trump, and the other 17 defendants charged last month in a sprawling indictment. By midday today, all of the defendants had filed paperwork pleading not guilty and waived their rights to an arraignment hearing.

While all of them had filed the paperwork by today, some of them failed to do so 48 hours prior to the scheduled arraignments as required by the judge. Additionally, Misty Hampton, former elections director in Coffee County, had her lawyer file the waiver without her personal signature. It remains uncertain whether the judge will reject any of the waivers due to this discrepancy.

During an arraignment hearing, defendants have the opportunity for the charges to be read and to enter a formal plea. Trump pleaded not guilty in a court filing on Thursday, while Giuliani entered his plea on Friday. The remaining pleas were submitted gradually over several days.

Meadows and four others are seeking to move the charges against them to federal court. However, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones stated during a hearing last week that if he had not made a ruling by the arraignment date or if the case was not transferred to federal court, Meadows would still be required to attend the arraignment.