Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s final chief of staff and now his indicted co-defendant in the Georgia election fraud case, is staring down the barrel of yet another possible 2024 trial that’s set to begin on the eve of Election Day and could see him lose millions of dollars to the publisher of his memoir.
In court filings this week, Meadows asked to have a familiar face represent him at the potential trial: His son, Blake Meadows, who has asked a Florida judge to let him argue the case in spite of the fact he is not a member of the Florida bar.
The publisher, All Seasons Press, pulled copies of The Chief’s Chief last month after Meadows reportedly admitted to Special Counsel Jack Smith that the 2020 election was not stolen—refuting much of what he wrote in the book, which is littered with election theft falsehoods.
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Meadows’ son has already gone to bat for his father against the publisher, assuring All Seasons Press in a December 2021 letter that portions of the memoir were “taken out of context” in media reports and going so far as to accuse the publisher of bearing responsibility for the leak, according to court documents.
Blake demanded at the time that All Seasons Press fork over its final advance payment of $116,666—which it eventually did.
Two years later, All Seasons Press wants its money back, in addition to millions of dollars in damages. The publisher filed suit against Meadows last month, accusing him of violating an agreement that effectively promised the memoir would contain only true statements.
All Seasons Press said it directly spoke with Trump in its investigation into the truthfulness of the statements made in the book and came away satisfied enough to publish Meadow’s claims of fraud, but that Meadows’ alleged statements to Smith suggest much of the book’s content violated their agreement.
Blake, who ultimately disproved Trump’s wild “dead voters” conspiracy years ago, is now prepared to defend his father’s falsehood-ridden book against the group that published it.
In 2020, Blake scanned voter rolls and obituaries to look into claims that fraudulent votes were being cast on behalf of dead voters, a search that dug up “12 obituaries and 6 other possibles depending on the Voter roll acuracy [sic],” Mark Meadows texted Trump senior adviser Eric Herschman at the time in an exchange obtained by the Jan. 6 committee.
“That sounds more like it. Maybe he can help Rudy find the other 10k ??” Herschmann replied. “lol,” Meadows wrote back.
All Seasons Press accused Meadows of “turning on the truth of his account regarding the 2020 Presidential Election,” and said it offered retailers a refund for all unsold copies of the book.
A spokesperson for All Seasons Press said in a statement to the Daily Beast that it is “unable to comment on ongoing litigation or ASP’s legal strategy.”
Reached briefly by phone, Meadow’s current attorney, Paul Phillips, said only that “It’s a breach of contract case, have a good one.”
Meadows also faces two criminal charges in Fani Willis’ sprawling Georgia election case. He is only the second White House chief of staff to face criminal charges after H. R. Haldeman, who served under Richard Nixon.
A jury trial is set for November 4, 2024 in the publishing lawsuit should the two sides fail to reach a settlement.
