NC SBI submits case file in Mark Meadows 2020 voter fraud investigation to Attorney General's office

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation's (SBI) confirms the agency's case file concerning former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and allegations of voter fraud has been submitted to the North Carolina Attorney General's Office for review. The agency said Tuesday, the final case file documentation was submitted in early November.

The SBI said prosecutors with the AG's Office will determine whether criminal charges are appropriate; as the charges are not decided by the SBI. The agency said because the case is pending with the AG's office, it will not be providing anymore information.

The NC Attorney General's Office sent ABC11 this response about the case: "Our office has received the NCSBI file. Because this is an ongoing matter, we are unable to comment further."

Although, the alleged voter fraud happened in 2020, the SBI wasn't asked to investigate until early 2022.

What prompted the investigation?

The request to investigate was originated by Macon County's District Attorney Ashley Welch after an article in The New Yorker magazine.

Public records obtained by the New Yorker show that he is registered to vote in two states, including North Carolina, where he listed a mobile home he did not own - and may never have visited - as his legal residence weeks before casting a ballot in the 2020 presidential election.

Heading into the 2020 election, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows listed this location in Scaly Mountain as his home. (Photo credit: WLOS)

Meadows listed a mobile home in Scaly Mountain, North Carolina, as his physical address on Sept. 19, 2020, while he was serving as Trump's chief of staff in Washington. Meadows later cast an absentee ballot for the general election by mail. Trump won the battleground state by just over 1 percentage point.

The New Yorker spoke to the former owner of the Scaly Mountain property, described as a 14-foot by 62-foot mobile home with a rusty metal roof, who indicated that Meadows does not own the home and never has. The previous owner said Meadows' wife rented the property "for two months at some point within the past few years" but only spent one or two nights there. Neighbors said Meadows was never present, The New Yorker reported.

Public records obtained by the magazine show that Meadows registered to vote in Alexandria, Virginia, almost exactly one year after he registered in Scaly Mountain and just weeks before Virginia's high-profile governor's election last fall. Republican Glenn Youngkin won the Democratic-leaning state by just under 2 percentage points.

Meadows frequently raised the prospect of voter fraud before the 2020 presidential election, as polls showed Trump trailing Joe Biden, and in the months following Trump's loss to suggest Biden was not the legitimate winner. He repeated claims that the election was stolen in his 2021 memoir.