Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has halted his cooperation with the House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, CNN reports, an abrupt about-face from an earlier, recent decision to hand over thousands of documents and appear for an interview before the panel.
Through his lawyer, Meadows suggested his decision to be due to the fact that the committe "planned to ask him about matters he considers off-limits because of executive privilege," writes Politico.
"We agreed to provide thousands of pages of responsive documents and Mr. Meadows was willing to appear voluntarily, not under compulsion of the Select Committee's subpoena to him, for a deposition to answer questions about non-privileged matters," read a letter from Meadows' attorney, who said the committee has now made such an appearance "untenable." The committee never publicly agreed to those terms as outlined by Meadows' lawyer, and insisted the ex-Trump official was appearing under subpoena and thus open to questioning, per Politico.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"In short, we now have every indication from the information supplied to us last Friday ... that the Select Committee has no intention of respecting boundaries concerning executive privilege," the lawyer added.
During a Tuesday television appearance, Meadows also suggested his reversal had something to do with the committee having "issued a subpoena to a third party carrier trying to get information" — specifically, his phone records, Politico reports.
The panel must now decide whether to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress and pursue charges against him. His lawyer "indicated that Meadows would still consider submitting written answers to the committee's questions," according to Politico.
-
The party bringing Trump-style populism to JapanUnder The Radar Far-right party is ‘Rise of Sanseito is ‘shattering’ the belief that Japan is ‘immune’ to populism’ the belief that Japan is ‘immune’ to populism
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-offSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Can Trump bully Netanyahu into Gaza peace?Today's Big Question The Israeli leader was ‘strong-armed’ into new peace deal
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to ChicagoSpeed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
The GOP: Merging flag and crossFeature Donald Trump has launched a task force to pursue “anti-Christian policies”
-
Five key questions about the Gaza peace dealThe Explainer Many ‘unresolved hurdles’ remain before Donald Trump’s 20-point plan can get the go-ahead
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
