Jan. 6 panel threatens contempt vote after Meadows withdraws

By ERIC TUCKER and MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) — The leaders of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection are threatening to clasp erstwhile White House main of unit Mark Meadows successful contempt of Congress aft his lawyer said Tuesday that his lawsuit volition cease cooperating with the panel.

In an abrupt reversal, Meadows lawyer George Terwilliger said successful a missive that a deposition would beryllium “untenable” due to the fact that the Jan. 6 sheet “has nary volition of respecting boundaries” concerning questions that erstwhile President Donald Trump has claimed are off-limits due to the fact that of enforcement privilege. Terwilliger besides said helium learned implicit the play that the committee had issued a subpoena to a third-party communications supplier that helium said would see “intensely personal” information.

“As a effect of cautious and deliberate information of these factors, we present indispensable diminution the accidental to look voluntarily for a deposition,” Terwilliger wrote successful the letter.

The committee’s Democratic chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, and Republican vice chairwoman, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, said successful a connection that they volition person “no choice” but to ballot connected recommending contempt charges against Meadows if helium does not amusement up for a antecedently scheduled closed-door deposition Wednesday.

“Tomorrow’s deposition, which was scheduled astatine Mr. Meadows’s request, volition spell guardant arsenic planned,” Thompson and Cheney said successful a statement.

Meadows’ determination not to cooperate is simply a stroke to the committee, arsenic lawmakers were hoping to interrogation Trump’s apical White House adjutant astir Trump’s actions during and up of the convulsive onslaught of his supporters. They had besides hoped to usage Meadows arsenic an illustration to different witnesses who whitethorn beryllium considering not cooperating arsenic Trump has filed ineligible challenges to artifact the panel’s work.

Lawmakers connected the committee person blasted Meadows’ reluctance to testify, citing privilege concerns, portion helium is besides releasing a publication this week that details his enactment wrong the White House. Thompson and Cheney said they besides person questions astir documents Meadows has already turned implicit to the panel.

“Even arsenic we litigate privilege issues, the Select Committee has galore questions for Mr. Meadows astir records helium has turned implicit to the Committee with nary assertion of privilege, which see real-time communications with galore individuals arsenic the events of January 6th unfolded,” they said successful the statement.

Thompson and Cheney said the sheet besides wants to talk to Meadows astir “voluminous authoritative records stored successful his idiosyncratic telephone and email accounts” that could beryllium turned implicit to the committee by the National Archives successful the coming weeks. Trump has sued to halt the merchandise of those records, and the lawsuit is presently pending successful the U.S. Court of Appeals.

The 2 committee leaders did not remark connected Terwilliger’s assertion astir subpoenas to third-party communications providers. The committee successful August issued a sweeping request that telecommunications and societal media companies sphere the idiosyncratic communications of hundreds of radical who whitethorn person been connected to the attack, but did not inquire the companies to crook implicit the records astatine that time.

Terwilliger said successful a connection past week that helium was continuing to enactment with the committee and its unit connected a imaginable accommodation that would not necessitate Meadows to waive the enforcement privileges claimed by Trump oregon “forfeit the long-standing presumption that elder White House aides cannot beryllium compelled to testify” earlier Congress.

“We admit the Select Committee’s openness to receiving voluntary responses connected non-privileged topics,” helium said then.

Thompson said past that the sheet would “continue to measure his grade of compliance” and would instrumentality enactment against Meadows oregon immoderate different witnesses who don’t comply, including by voting to urge contempt charges. The House has already voted to clasp longtime Trump state Steve Bannon successful contempt aft helium defied a subpoena, and the Justice Department indicted Bannon connected 2 counts.

In halting cooperation, Terwilliger cited comments from Thompson that helium said unfairly formed aspersions connected witnesses who invoke their Fifth Amendment close against self-incrimination. A abstracted witness, erstwhile Justice Department authoritative Jeffrey Clark, has said helium volition invoke those Fifth Amendment rights, prompting questions from the committee astir whether helium would straight admit that his answers could incriminate him.

Thompson said past week that Clark’s lawyer had offered “no circumstantial basis” for Clark to asseverate the Fifth and that helium viewed it arsenic a “last-ditch effort to hold the Select Committee’s proceedings,” but helium said members would perceive Clark out. The committee has already voted to urge contempt charges for Clark, and Thompson has said it volition proceed with a House ballot if the sheet is not satisfied with his compliance astatine a 2nd deposition connected Dec. 16.

In his caller book, released Tuesday, Meadows reveals that Trump received a affirmative COVID-19 trial earlier a statesmanlike debate. He besides reveals that erstwhile Trump was aboriginal hospitalized with COVID, helium was acold sicker than the White House revealed astatine the time.

Trump — who told his supporters to “fight similar hell” earlier hundreds of his supporters broke into the Capitol and stopped the statesmanlike electoral number — has attempted to hinder overmuch of the committee’s work, including successful the ongoing tribunal case, by arguing that Congress cannot get accusation astir his backstage White House conversations.

___

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report.