Ex-Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows no longer cooperating with Jan. 6 committee

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.
Subscribe to 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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
The ambiguous legal state of ectopic pregnancy care
The Explainer Rep. Kat Cammack's accusations of 'fearmongering' are the latest example of how mixed messages are complicating the debate around abortion
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from
-
ICE: Targeting essential workers
Feature After a brief pause, the Trump administration resumes its mass deportation plan
-
'No Kings': A turning point for the resistance?
Feature Millions of Americans nationwide took to the streets to protest against the Trump administration
-
Trump: Making the military into a 'partisan militia'?
Feature Donald Trump held a military parade just days after sending troops to stop protests in Los Angeles
-
Judges order release of 2 high-profile migrants
Speed Read Kilmar Ábrego García is back in the US and Mahmoud Khalil is allowed to go home — for now