(Washington Insider Magazine) -Donald Trump’s former White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, is claiming executive privilege and refusing to answer questions about the various documents submitted to the investigating House committee about the Jan 6. attacks on the Capitol.
Due to his refusal to testify about the findings, he is now facing possible contempt charges since he is no longer abiding to the subpoena. The committee is now preparing to ask Meadows about a series of findings and he will face time in prison if he does not participate.
The House voted on the morning of December 14, 2021, to pursue criminal charges against Mark Meadows, the Chief of Staff to the former administration, for contempt. The vote was largely among party lines as the Democrats voted in favor next to Republican senator, Liz Cheney. The vote concluded at 222-208.
At this present time, Meadows is facing charges because he provided a myriad of documents to the Congressional Committee presiding over the investigation about the January 6 riot at the Capitol but refused to appear for testimony after being presented a subpoena about the findings found in the records.
On the night of December 13, 2021, the investigating committee unanimously voted to seek contempt charges.
The committee felt they were left with no alternative on the debate floor:
Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) noted that this debate was a direct attack on the notion of executive privilege, calling attention to the thick tension surrounding the case.
However, Democrats were not the only ones left disheartened with the number of Republican support Meadows received. Liz Cheney, the vice-chair on the investigative committee, shared her disappointment regarding the case. She, among others, claimed that this was a defense that shouldn’t be up for debate.
An email dated January 5, 2021 was recovered from Meadows documents and revealed the former Chief of Staff confirmed the national guard would be available to protect the “Pro-Trump” people the following date.
Meadows declined to attend two previous depositions, the last of which was scheduled for December 8, 2021, the day after his tell-all book describing his time in Trump’s administration was released. Although George J. Terwillinger III, Meadows attorney, said in a statement his client never ceased cooperating with the committee.
On December 13, the committee released formerly undisclosed text messages to Meadows around the time of the riots he’d provided to the panel. The messages were sent from various hosts on Fox News, Donald Trump Jr., and lawmakers who were not named by the committee. Some texts were urges to have Trump call off the mob.
This contempt referral was not the first to stem from the investigation of January 6. The House previously voted to refer Steve Bannon, another former adviser to Trump, to the Justice Department for contempt after he also defied a subpoena from the committee. The Justice Department acted on the recommendation of Steve Bannon as he was charged with two counts of contempt.
The penalty for the charges could be a year in prison on top of a $100,000 fine if convicted. Bannon pleaded not guilty and is to stand trial in July.
