Mark Meadows

Mark Meadows

Chief of Staff to the President

RECORD

Following the 2020 presidential election, Mark Meadows used his position as White House chief of staff to attempt to pressure both federal and state officials to overturn the election results and keep President Trump in office. Meadows also undermined the federal pandemic response, spreading misinformation and pressuring Trump to oppose a national mask mandate for political reasons.

Anti-Democratic Efforts

  • In December 2020 and January 2021, Meadows participated in the White House pressure campaign urging Georgia officials to change the results of the election. [American Oversight, 03/12/21]
  • After the 2020 election, Meadows repeatedly pressed the Department of Justice to investigate election-related conspiracy theories. [New York Times, 06/05/21]

COVID Disinformation and Mismanagement

  • In July 2020, Meadows reportedly convinced President Trump not to institute a national mask mandate because, per Meadows, his “base will revolt.” [New York Times, 12/31/20]

News Coverage and Headlines

  • The FDA action [to approve the Pfizer vaccine] came after White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Friday told FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn to be prepared to submit his resignation if the agency did not clear the vaccine by day’s end […] Meadows’s threat followed months of efforts by FDA scientists to try to ward off President Trump’s importuning on the vaccine and keep the review process apolitical and transparent in hopes of boosting public confidence in the shots. The FDA already had planned to clear the vaccine Saturday morning, and accelerating the authorization to Friday night was not expected to change the delivery timeline of the first shots.” [Washington Post, 12/12/20]
  • “…Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff — backed up by other aides including Stephen Miller — said the politics [of a mask mandate] for Mr. Trump would be devastating. ‘The base will revolt,’ Mr. Meadows said, adding that he was not sure Mr. Trump could legally make it happen in any case. That was all Mr. Trump needed to hear. ‘I’m not doing a mask mandate,’ he concluded.” [The New York Times, 12/31/20]
  • HEADLINE: “Investigations Update: Trump’s Election-Stealing Efforts in Georgia, DeJoy’s Communications, and Giroir’s COVID-19 Text Messages” [American Oversight, 01/05/21]
  • HEADLINE: “One Year of COVID-19 Oversight” [American Oversight, 03/03/21]
  • HEADLINE: “Mark Meadows could face criminal exposure for his role in Trump’s Georgia phone call” [Salon, 01/13/21]