You’ve been hearing a lot about Mark Meadows lately. Perhaps too much. The former White House chief of staff under Donald Trump has a new book out, which has enraged his former boss. Among his damning revelations is that the former president tested positive for COVID earlier than claimed. He also almost turned on now-Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh because he sang the praises of beer.
Meadows has something else going on these days, though: He’s wanted by the Jan. 6 committee. Last week, he’d agreed to sit down for a deposition with the bipartisan group, which is investigating the lead-up to the Capitol siege that ended Trump’s presidency in disgrace. Then he flip-flopped. Now he’s suing them.
As per The Daily Beast, Meadows’ lawyer, in a suit fled Wednesday, claimed his client has been “illegally coerced into violating the Constitution” by being asked to provide documents and information, via a sit-down, to the group. How is that illegal? Because the Jan. 6 committee, as per the filing, is seeking to “violate longstanding principles of executive privilege and immunity.”
If that excuse sounds familiar, it should. “Executive privilege” is the same one used by Trump himself. Only problem? That line should only apply to sitting commanders-in-chief. Trump hasn’t been president in just over a year. And yet it’s the same excuse he’s been telling all his close allies to employ.
Thing is, Meadows has already supplied some information to the committee, handing over thousands of documents, including some unflattering texts. He put the kibosh on cooperating further because, his lawyer claimed, the panel wanted intel on some privileged matters. Meadows would have been one of over 300 witnesses the committee has already interviewed, many of them who did so willingly.
Among the information the committee seeks from Meadows is what he knows about, as per the Beast, the “previous administration’s conspiracy-drenched “Stop the Steal” campaign, the scheme to use the Justice Department to perpetuate fake election fraud claims, and “efforts to pressure state and local officials and entities… to challenge the results of the presidential election.”
They also want to know if Meadows indeed used an encrypted apps on his phone and computer to communicate about government issues during his final stretch in the White House.
But perhaps Meadows will only wind up having a rather smelly cellmate.
(Via The Daily Beast)