North Carolina investigators to look into whether Mark Meadows committed voter fraud

North Carolina's attorney general and state bureau of investigations are looking into whether Mark Meadows, former President Trump's chief of staff, committed voter fraud in the 2020 election.

The allegation of voter fraud emerged after the New Yorker reported that Meadows had registered to vote in 2020 with the address of a mobile home he neither lived in nor owned. 

District Attorney Ashley Welch, who represents the area where the home is located, referred the case to North Carolina's Department of Justice's Special Prosecutions Section. Welch recused herself from investigating Meadows herself because he had contributed to her campaign and had appeared in advertisements on her behalf in 2014. 

The state attorney general's office referred the case to the State Bureau of Investigations, which confirmed its probe on Friday. This was first reported by WRAL.

"At the conclusion of the investigation, we'll review their findings," said Nazneen Ahmed, spokeswoman for the North Carolina attorney general. 

Meadows and his wife reportedly voted absentee in the 2020 election. They currently live in Virginia. 

A Meadows spokesperson did not respond for comment.

Welch said she had been unaware of any allegations of voter fraud surrounding Mark Meadows until she was contacted by the media. 

"The allegations in this case involve potential crimes committed by a government official,"  Welch wrote in her letter to Leslie Dismukes, an attorney with the North Carolina Justice Department's special prosecutions unit. 

"Historically, I have requested the Attorney General's office to handle prosecutions involving alleged misconduct of government officials. It is [in] the best interest of justice and the best interest of the people of North Carolina that the Attorney General's office handles the prosecution of this case," she added. 

Meadows, a former North Carolina congressman, was Trump's final chief of staff. He has backed baseless claims that widespread voter fraud resulted in a "stolen" 2020 election. The House voted to hold Meadows in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena to appear before the House elect committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.