Jun 21, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Meadows wanted to send gifts to Georgia election officials, Jan. 6 panel says

Emma Hurt

Mark Meadows, chief of staff to then-President Donald Trump, discussed sending Georgia election investigators "a sh**load of POTUS stuff," like coins and autographed MAGA hats, as they investigated claims of voter fraud, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, said during Tuesday's hearing.

Driving the news: Meadows called and texted Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office 18 times to set up the now-infamous Jan. 2 call among Raffensperger, Trump and their staffs in which the then-president urged Raffensperger to "find" the votes needed to reverse the results.

Schiff said Tuesday that the panel has texts that show Meadows wanted to send the state election investigators, in the words of one aide, a “sh**load of POTUS stuff” including “coins, actual autographed MAGA hats.”
“White House staff intervened to make sure that didn’t happen,” Schiff added.

Why it matters: In his campaign to overturn election results in several key contested states, Trump "had a particular obsession with Georgia," said panel Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) on Tuesday.

Combatting the ongoing election disinformation, which Trump and his allies pushed about Georgia, was like "a shovel trying to empty the ocean," Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State's office, told the committee.

Go deeper: Meadows doubted Pence's authority to reject electors, Short tells Jan. 6 panel

Editor's note: This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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Meadows wanted to send gifts to Georgia election officials, Jan. 6 panel says

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