The House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol last year has asked a federal judge to compel the testimony of Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff at the time. The Jan. 6 panel already subpoenaed Meadows, and he turned over certain documents. But he's refused to do more, arguing in a lawsuit filed to block the subpoenas in December that the committee has gone beyond its authority. The filing Friday says the panel has new evidence in the case, the Hill reports. "It’s essential that the American people fully understand Mr. Meadows's role in events before, on, and after January 6th," a statement by the panel's leaders said. "His attempt to use the courts to cover up that information must come to an end."
Meadows was a central figure in the effort to keep former President Donald Trump in office despite his election loss, the panel argues, adding that the new evidence shows he'd received intelligence that storming the Capitol that day could result in violence. Testimony by other Trump aides indicated that the White House counsel had told Meadows that trying to replace electors with pro-Trump lineups would be illegal, per the Wall Street Journal. The full House voted to hold Meadows in criminal contempt of Congress after he refused to sit for a deposition; the Justice Department hasn't acted on the case yet.
In his lawsuit, Meadows said Trump cited executive privilege in telling him not to meet the committee's requests. President Biden has waived the privilege claims. Meadows said that leaves him forced to choose "between conflicting privilege claims that are of constitutional origin and dimension." In the committee's filing Friday in federal district court, it laid out subject areas in which it said Meadows could supply information without compromising his claim of executive privilege. (More Capitol riot stories.)
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