Mark Meadows, a co-defendant in the case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia, spent hours on the witness stand Monday, becoming the first to argue to a federal judge that the case should be removed from state to federal court.

Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff, took the stand for nearly three hours, according to the Washington Post. The outlet noted that Meadows repeatedly argued there was a "federal nexus" to all of his actions in the aftermath of 2020.

MARK MEADOWS COURT HEARING IS FIRST BIG TEST FOR FANI WILLIS'S TRUMP RICO CASE

The hearing remained ongoing at the time of this publishing.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis brought two felony charges, including racketeering, against Meadows this month over allegations he conspired to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

"This is precisely the kind of state interference in a federal official’s duties that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits, and that the removal statute shields against," Meadows had argued in his initial removal motion.

Willis filed a response opposing the motion, saying Meadows was not acting in his capacity as a federal official because if he were, it would be a violation of the Hatch Act, a law that requires federal officials to separate their official work from campaign work.

Meadows had been aggressive in seeking federal removal. He was the first of five co-defendants to do so and also filed an emergency motion to prevent his imminent arrest last week because of what he said were his rights to removal.

Jones denied the motion, saying Meadows' removal request required a hearing. Meadows was then forced to voluntarily surrender himself to Fulton County jail, which he did on Thursday. He was quickly released that same day on $100,000 bail.

Trump, the 2024 GOP frontrunner, is also expected to try to move his case to federal court. He would still not be able to pardon himself of state charges if reelected to the presidency, but a trial in federal court would require jury selection from a wider area that would be less blue than the immediate vicinity of Fulton County. A federal judge would also preside over the trial, and federal courtroom rules would apply, likely meaning the trial would not be televised.

Meadows' hearing served as a test of the removal ability of other co-defendants, especially Trump and former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, who both also previously served in federal office.

It was also expected to shed light on Willis's broader case against Meadows and the others. The district attorney subpoenaed four people to appear for it, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, according to court filings.

In her indictment, Willis noted that Meadows was present on the phone call during which Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to flip the outcome of Georgia's election in Trump's favor.

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Willis subpoenaed two others who were present on the call, Alex Kaufman and Kurt Hilbert, as well as Frances Watson, the lead investigator of 2020 matters for the secretary of state's office.

Willis included in her indictment a text Meadows sent to Watson asking, "Is there a way to speed up Fulton county signature verification in order to have results before Jan. 6 if the trump campaign assist financially?"

This is a developing story and will be updated.