Former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the House Jan. 6 select committee’s unanimous vote to recommend criminal contempt charges against him for failing to appear for a deposition was “disappointing, but not surprising.”
Mr. Meadows, who served in Congress before joining the Trump administration, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity late Monday that the Democrat-led committee’s probe is a political ploy and is “not based on a legislative purpose.
“Let’s be clear about this: This is not about me, holding me in contempt,” he said. “It’s not even about making the [U.S.] Capitol safer. We’ve seen that by the selective leaks that are going on right now. This is about Donald Trump and about actually going after him once again.”
The committee met late Monday to vote on the charges; the matter now proceeds to the full House for a vote. If passed, a criminal referral will be forwarded to the Justice Department recommending Mr. Meadows’ prosecution.
“Whatever legacy he thought he left in the House, this is his legacy now,” Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi Democrat and committee chairman, said of Mr. Meadows before the vote. “Mr. Meadows has put himself in this situation and he must now accept the consequences.”
Mr. Meadows is the third former official the committee has voted to hold in contempt over their claims of immunity rooted in former President Donald Trump’s claims of executive privilege.
SEE ALSO: Texts reveal Fox News hosts, Don Jr. begged Meadows to get Trump to act on Jan. 6 riot
President Biden has sought to deny that claim, which a federal appeals court also has rejected.
Mr. Meadows said Monday there is a “high probability” that the House will vote to refer the charges to the Justice Department. But he maintained that he attempted to accommodate the committee’s request while cooperating within the guardrails of Mr. Trump’s claims, which are still being fought in court.
“I can say that when you look at the criminal component of the intent, there’s never been an intent on my part,” Mr. Meadows said. “I have tried to share non-privileged information, but, truly, the executive privilege that Donald Trump has claimed is not mine to waive, it’s not Congress’ to waive and that’s why we filed the lawsuit to hopefully get the courts to weigh in. Hopefully, they will weigh in.”
Key witnesses, including Mr. Meadows, continue to push back on the Democrat-run committee’s work, which many Trump supporters view as a purely partisan attempt to smear Republicans.
Members of the committee and most Democrats maintain that the probe aims only to uncover the truth about events before, during and after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Monday’s vote followed months of back-and-forth between the panel and Mr. Meadows’ legal team over a subpoena issued in late September.
SEE ALSO: Jan. 6 committee votes for contempt charges against Mark Meadows
Mr. Meadows has bucked the panel’s demands to appear for two depositions. His lawyer, George Terwilliger III, asserted that Mr. Meadows remains “immune” from the committee’s probe, citing Mr. Trump’s claims of executive privilege.
After failing to appear for the first deposition, Mr. Meadows briefly signaled intent to cooperate, which he abruptly withdrew after the two parties failed to reach an agreement on the terms under which he would cooperate.
On Wednesday, Mr. Meadows sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and members of the select committee for relief from the panel’s subpoenas, which he described as being “overly broad and unduly burdensome” and issued “without legal authority in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
Mr. Meadows also raised concern about committee subpoenas compelling him and a “third-party telecommunications company” to provide information that the panel “lacks lawful authority to seek and to obtain.”
In a report issued late Sunday, the committee confirmed that Mr. Meadows had turned over a trove of documents, including emails and text messages. The lawmakers said the documents raised several questions they intended to address at a deposition scheduled for last week, for which Mr. Meadows failed to appear.
Among the documents Mr. Meadows provided were details about communications between members of Congress and rally organizers on Jan. 6, and messages among aides as the attack on the Capitol unfolded.
Rep. Liz Cheney, Wyoming Republican and committee vice chair, detailed during Monday’s proceedings several messages in which people at the Capitol during the attack alerted Mr. Meadows to the gravity of the situation.
Ms. Cheney also detailed several messages from Fox News personalities calling on Mr. Meadows to persuade Mr. Trump to de-escalate the situation.
In another exchange, Donald Trump Jr. and Mr. Meadows discussed the need for the president to condemn the attack.
“These text messages leave no doubt the White House knew exactly what was happening here at the Capitol,” Ms. Cheney said.
Mr. Meadows is among several witnesses who have leaned on the president’s legal claims as justification for dismissing the committee’s subpoenas.
The committee also has voted to hold former White House adviser Steve Bannon and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark in contempt for failing to comply with subpoenas.
The committee delayed forwarding Mr. Clark’s recommended charges to the full House, pending his appearance before a last-chance deposition later this month.
The House voted to hold Mr. Bannon in contempt following the committee’s recommendation. Mr. Bannon has been indicted by the Justice Department, and his case is ongoing.
Mr. Meadows said after the vote that he hopes that the courts will “weigh in” in his favor.
“Obviously, there is a political narrative that really focuses on Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, and, sadly, when we look at what is to be accomplished, I’m not sure that this committee is set up to do that,” Mr. Meadows said.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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