Trump aide Mark Meadows agrees to preliminary deposition in Jan. 6 Capitol riot probe

Former Trump White Home chief of workers Mark Meadows has agreed to cooperate in at the least a restricted means with the Home choose committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, which can embrace giving testimony, the panel’s chairman and Meadows’ lawyer mentioned Tuesday.

Below the settlement, Meadows will give “voluntary responses” on subjects that he doesn’t consider are coated by government privilege, his lawyer mentioned.

He has already given data to the panel, in keeping with Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the committee’s chairman.

President Donald Trump has cited government privilege because the grounds for denying launch of a big selection of data sought by the panel.

Members of the committee had threatened to pursue a contempt quotation in opposition to Meadows after they accused him of failing to adjust to a subpoena for paperwork and testimony. The announcement of Meadows’ cooperation marks a stark change from lower than three weeks earlier, when the committee accused him of “selecting to defy the legislation” by defying the calls for of a subpoena.

Meadows’ settlement to cooperate got here after the committee introduced it will vote this week to advocate that the Home maintain in contempt of Congress one other Trump ally, former Justice Division official Jeffrey Clark, for his personal noncompliance.

“Mr. Meadows has been participating with the Choose Committee by his legal professional,” Thompson mentioned in a press release issued after CNN first reported the settlement.

“He has produced data to the committee and can quickly seem for an preliminary deposition. The Choose Committee expects all witnesses, together with Mr. Meadows, to supply all data requested and that the Choose Committee is lawfully entitled to obtain,” Thompson mentioned.

“The committee will proceed to evaluate his diploma of compliance with our subpoena after the deposition.”

Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., mentioned in a tweet that Meadows “has a authorized and ethical obligation to cooperate with our committee.”

“I am glad he has now agreed to seem and has already supplied paperwork,” Schiff mentioned. “We’ll consider the extent of his compliance after his testimony.”

Meadows’ lawyer George Terwilliger informed NBC Information: “As we have now from the start, we proceed to work with the Choose Committee and its workers to see if we are able to attain an lodging that doesn’t require Mr. Meadows to waive Government Privilege or to forfeit the long-standing place that senior White Home aides can’t be compelled to testify earlier than Congress.”

“We respect the Choose Committee’s openness to receiving voluntary responses on non-privileged subjects,” Terwilliger mentioned.

Trump’s spokeswoman Liz Harrington, in an electronic mail to CNBC, blasted the panel.

“The Unselect Committee isn’t within the details, however solely a continuation of their unending Witch Hunts,” Harrington mentioned. “President Trump will proceed to guard the Structure and government privilege, for his and all different future Administrations.”

The bipartisan choose committee has subpoenaed Meadows, Clark and a slew of different witnesses for its inquiry into the invasion of Congress that started on the tail finish of a Trump rally the place the then-president and others known as on supporters to oppose the affirmation of President Joe Biden’s election.

Former Trump White Home advisor Steve Bannon is being criminally prosecuted for his refusal to adjust to a subpoena from the committee.

Trump has cited government privilege, which in some instances bars Congress and different entities from receiving sure data from the White Home, in searching for to forestall testimony and paperwork from being turned over to the committee.

Trump’s attorneys have directed a few of his allies to not cooperate with subpoenas and have sued to dam the discharge of some White Home data, each on privilege grounds.

The Jan. 6 committee rejected these claims of privilege, and Biden waived privilege over a tranche of White Home data sought by the investigators.

A federal appeals panel on Tuesday heard arguments on Trump’s lawsuit in opposition to the committee, which seeks to dam the discharge of some data. A panel of judges on that court docket aggressively questioned Trump’s attorneys about their argument that Trump’s privilege claims outweigh Biden’s willpower that the data will be given to the committee.