Ex-Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows will appear before the Jan. 6 panel
The Democratic-led House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has reached a new agreement with former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to appear for an initial deposition and say he is cooperating by providing documents to the panel.
The committee and Meadows' attorney George Terwilliger said on Tuesday that both sides had reached the agreement that included the appearance and turning over records. However, the committee warned it is still weighing taking additional steps against Meadows depending on how cooperative he is with his testimony.
"Mr. Meadows has been engaging with the Select Committee through his attorney. He has produced records to the committee and will soon appear for an initial deposition," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the committee. "The Select Committee expects all witnesses, including Mr. Meadows, to provide all information requested and that the Select Committee is lawfully entitled to receive. The committee will continue to assess his degree of compliance with our subpoena after the deposition."
Meadows' attorney has repeatedly noted his client's objections to cooperating previously based on claims of executive privilege, which has been waived by the sitting president Joe Biden and is at issue in the courts regarding Trump. On Tuesday, Terwillger said they continue to look for solution that doesn't breach that concern.
"As we have from the beginning, we continue to work with the Select Committee and its staff to see if we can reach an accommodation that does not require Mr. Meadows to waive Executive Privilege or to forfeit the long-standing position that senior White House aides cannot be compelled to testify before Congress," Terwilliger said. "We appreciate the Select Committee's openness to receiving voluntary responses on non-privileged topics."
Lawmakers have warned Meadows repeatedly that they could issue a criminal contempt referral if he does not ultimately cooperate. He failed to show up for a November deposition date, triggering one of those recent warnings.
"Mr. Meadows's actions today — choosing to defy the law — will force the Select Committee to consider pursuing contempt or other proceedings to enforce the subpoena," Thompson and ranking member Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a joint statement after Meadows failed to show up Nov. 12.
Still, the panel has not yet acted on that statement, in part, because lawmakers have faced a bigger legal test with Meadows than they did with former strategist Steve Bannon, who was not working in the Trump administration on Jan. 6. The committee issued a criminal contempt referral for Bannon less than a month after he received his Sept. 23 subpoena — the same day Meadows received his.
But the panel has taken more than twice as long to decide if they'll take similar steps against Meadows.
On Wednesday, the committee will meet to vote on a criminal contempt referral for ex-Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. He would mark the second such case for the panel if the referral is approved. [Copyright 2021 NPR]
