Posts tagged with "Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows"

CNN exclusive: Mark Meadows has complied with DOJ subpoena in January 6 probe

September 16, 2022

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has complied with a subpoena from the Justice Department’s investigation into events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, sources familiar with the matter have told CNN—making him the highest-ranking Trump official known to have responded to a subpoena in the federal investigation.

Meadows turned over the same materials he provided to the House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack, one source said, meeting the obligations of the Justice Department subpoena, which has not been previously reported.

Last year, Meadows turned over thousands of text messages and emails to the House committee, before he stopped cooperating. The texts he handed over between Election Day 2020 and Joe Biden’s inauguration, which CNN previously obtained, provided a window into his dealings at the White House, though he withheld hundreds of messages, citing executive privilege.

In addition to Trump’s former chief of staff, one of Meadows’ top deputies in the White House, Ben Williamson, also recently received a grand jury subpoena, another source familiar with the matter has informed CNN.

That subpoena was similar to what others in Trump’s orbit received. It asked for testimony and records relating to January 6 and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Williamson previously cooperated with the January 6 committee. He declined to comment to CNN.

Meadows’ compliance with the subpoena comes as the Justice Department has ramped up its investigation related to January 6, which now touches nearly every aspect of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss—including the fraudulent electors plot, efforts to push baseless election fraud claims and how money flowed to support these various efforts, CNN reported this week.

An attorney for Meadows declined comment. The Justice Department did not respond to CNN requests for comment.

As White House chief of staff, Meadows was in the middle of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election in the two months between Election Day and Biden’s inauguration. Meadows communicated with numerous officials who tried to find election fraud and pushed various schemes to try to overturn the election, according to text messages obtained by CNN that Meadows turned over to the House select committee.

Meadows also shared baseless conspiracy theories with Justice Department leaders, as Trump tried to enlist DOJ’s help in his push to claim the election was stolen from him.

After Meadows stopped cooperating with the House committee, Congress referred him to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress. DOJ declined to prosecute him for contempt earlier this year.

It’s not yet clear whether the Justice Department will seek more materials from Meadows as part of the ongoing criminal investigation, which could lead to a legal fight over executive privilege.

Following last month’s FBI search of Trump’s Florida residence and resort, the Ma-a-Lago Club, Meadows handed over texts and emails to the National Archivesv that he had not previously turned over from his time in the administration, CNN previously reported. Last year, Meadows spoke with Trump about the documents he brought to Mar-a-Lago that the National Archives wanted returned.

Trump has been counseled to cut contact with Meadows—and some of Trump’s attorneys believe Meadows could also be in investigators’ crosshairs and are concerned he could become a fact witness if he’s pushed to cooperate, CNN reported last month. Still, Trump and Meadows have spoken a number of times, according to a source familiar with their relationship.

Another source described their relationship as “not the same as it once was” while in the White House, but said they still have maintained a relationship, even as Trump has complained about Meadows to others.

Research contact: @CNN

DOJ reportedly secures Cassidy Hutchinson’s cooperation in January 6 probe

July 28, 2022

On Wednesday, July 27, ABC News reported that former Donald Trump-era White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson is cooperating with Justice Department investigators  as part of their probe into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, as well as the former president’s effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“The Justice Department reached out to her following her testimony a month ago before the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, the sources said,” reported ABC’s Katherine Faulders, Mike Levine, and John Santucci. “The extent of her cooperation was not immediately clear.”

“Hutchinson becomes the latest known figure with knowledge of the actions of top Trump Administration officials on Jan. 6 to cooperate with the Justice Department’s inquiry,” said the report, according to Raw Story, which added, “A lawyer for Hutchinson did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment. Officials with the DOJ also declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for the January 6 committee.”

Hutchinson, who served as an adviser to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, gave bombshell public testimony before the committee last month. Among other things, she revealed that Trump demanded rioters he knew were armed be allowed to enter the Capitol because “they’re not here to hurt me,” and that Trump attacked his own security detail in his car when they wouldn’t take him to join the rioters.

A report earlier this month indicated that she is  in hiding  amid death threats from Trump supporters.

The Washington Post revealed this week that the DOJ has shifted its investigation to  focus directly on Trump’s actions  during the riot and the plot to reverse the election—a possible sign that prosecutors are considering charges against him.

Research contact: @RawStory

Scott Perry says he will not cooperate with the January 6 panel

December 22, 2021

Representative Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania), a central figure in Donald Trump’s effort to weaponize the Justice Department in support of his false election fraud claims, is refusing to cooperate with the House’s January 6 select committee, reports Politico’s Congress Minutes.

Perry rejected an interview request from the panel on Tuesday, December 21—a day after the committee asked him to appear voluntarily.

In a statement, Perry said: “I decline this entity’s request and will continue to fight the failures of the radical Left who desperately seek distraction from their abject failures of crushing inflation, a humiliating surrender in Afghanistan, and the horrendous crisis they created at our border.”

His refusal sets up a potentially unprecedented confrontation between the committee and a fellow member of the House.

The select panel sent Perry— the recently elected chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus—a letter on Monday evening asking for an interview, as well as documents related to its inquiry into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and Trump’s efforts to pressure the Department of Justice to intervene in the 2020 election.

Panel Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) said in a letter to Perry that they had uncovered evidence linking the Pennsylvania Republican to the meddling at the Department of Justice as well as texts and communications—including over the encrypted app Signa —with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

The panel also said it had evidence of Perry’s communications with the White House and others involved with conspiracy theories about voting machines made by Dominion.

Despite legal challenges to the committee’s legitimacy, federal courts have repeatedly found the panel to be duly authorized and pursuing a legitimate legislative goal.

A spokesperson for the committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Research contact: @politico