The House committee investigating the January 6 U.S. Capitol rebellion is giving the former president more time Donald TrumpThe then Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (Mark Meadows) before he despised him Congress.
Meadows blatantly ignored the subpoena and refused to testify before the committee. D-Miss Rep. Bennie Thompson said Tuesday that the committee “will not rush” to scorn Meadows. So far, Meadows has refused to provide lawmakers with any communications about the day he was attacked on the Capitol.
Lawyers for Meadows argued that his client would be protected by the administrative privileges Trump claimed in this matter.Meadows, unlike noisy Trump supporters Steve Bannon, It is assumed that there was direct contact with the former president on the day of the riot. Bannon left the White House many years ago to allow the committee to adopt a workaround in his administrative privilege argument because it applies to his participation.
The committee stated that it rejected arguments about Meadows’ executive privileges because the president Joe Biden According to the Associated Press, any privileges related to the Meadows interview will be waived. So far, the court has denied Trump’s attempt to prevent the committee from collecting information.
Thompson told reporters on Tuesday: “We believe that our foundation is solid at this time, but based on the lawyer’s advice, we hope to show that we have done our best in good faith to obtain this information.”
He added that before lawmakers leave town for the Thanksgiving holiday, the group is unlikely to vote in contempt.
For more reports from the Associated Press, please see below.
Patrick Semansky, File/Associated Press Photo
After Clark testified in court earlier this month and refused to answer questions, the group was still discussing a vote of contempt for former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. Clark is a former assistant attorney general who allied with Trump after Trump lost the 2020 election and pressured the Justice Department to help overthrow his failure.
The House panel argued that they have questions about Meadows and Clark, just like they did with Bannon, these questions do not directly involve conversations with Trump, nor can they be prevented by privilege requirements.
Thompson said: “We will have a similar and extensive argument with Meadows and Clark, just like we did with Bannon.”
Meadows lawyer George Terwilliger said last week that the court should decide whether to apply the privilege.
“Mr. Meadows is irresponsible to resolve this dispute prematurely by voluntarily waiving the privileges that are at the core of these legal issues,” Twilig said.
One area the team focused on was Meadows’ personal phone calls and emails, and whether he used it to communicate with others before hundreds of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol.
Thompson said: “If, in fact, he used a private phone instead of a government phone during his tenure as chief of staff, that would limit his argument that he is protected or e-mailed.”
As we all know, Meadows is a prolific texter who used his personal cell phone number during his tenure as the Chief of Staff of the White House. This number was later disconnected, the same number he used as a Republican congressman, and the area code was from his hometown of North Carolina.
Trump administration officials have been cited many times for using personal emails to handle government affairs.
In the committee’s September subpoena, Thompson cited Meadows’ failed efforts to overthrow Trump in the weeks before the rebellion and his pressure on state officials to promote the former president’s false claims about widespread voter fraud.
Thompson wrote: “You are the president’s chief of staff and have key information about many elements of our investigation.” “It looks like you were with President Trump on or nearby on January 6 and with the President on January 6. Communicates with other people about the incident in the Capitol, and is a witness to the event that day.”
Bannon surrendered on Monday FBI On Friday, he was indicted on two counts of federal contempt of court, one for refusing to appear in Congress to testify, and the other for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee’s subpoenas.
He appeared in court on Monday, facing federal criminal charges, and appeared in court again on Thursday.
Bannon’s lawyer, David Schoen, said his client did not appear before Congress after Trump claimed that executive privileges would apply.
Bannon spoke with Trump before the uprising and predicted on January 5 that “all hells will collapse” the next day.
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