Donald Trump’s former White Home chief of employees will not co-operate with the congressional committee investigating the January 6 assault on the US Capitol, in a U-turn that underscores the rising rancour between the previous president’s allies and lawmakers.
Bennie Thompson, the Democrat chairing the January 6 choose committee, stated final month that Mark Meadows had been “participating” with the panel of lawmakers by his lawyer, and had offered information to the committee and would offer a deposition following a congressional subpoena.
However George Terwilliger, Meadows’s lawyer, indicated on Tuesday that his shopper would not be co-operating, accusing the committee of not working in “good religion”. In a letter despatched to Thompson and obtained by the Monetary Instances, Terwilliger stated the committee “had no intention of respecting boundaries regarding government privilege”.
Terwilliger and a spokesperson for the January 6 committee didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The U-turn from Meadows comes as the previous chief of employees has come underneath hearth from Trump loyalists over a forthcoming memoir by which Meadows particulars the then president’s bout with Covid-19. Within the e-book, Meadows reportedly says Trump examined optimistic for the virus earlier than a televised debate with Joe Biden.
Trump and his allies have sought to invoke “government privilege”, a authorized conference meaning sure presidential communications are confidential, as grounds for not co-operating with the January 6 committee, which is comprised of Democratic lawmakers and simply two Republicans: Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Trump has sued the panel in an effort to dam the discharge of paperwork regarding his last days in workplace, whereas Steve Bannon, one other Trump confidante, was indicted by a federal grand jury final month for contempt of Congress after failing to adjust to a subpoena from the panel of lawmakers.
It stays unclear whether or not Meadows’s case will observe the same trajectory. Meadows was a Republican congressman from North Carolina earlier than being tapped as Trump’s fourth and last chief of employees.