‘It’s about Donald Trump’: Mark Meadows responds to vote on January 6 recommending criminal charges

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Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows responded late Monday to a House Select Committee vote to recommend prosecution for criminal contempt in Congress after he refused to testify before the panel.

“It’s frustrating, but not surprising,” Meadows told Sean Hannity. “Let’s be clear about this, this is not about me, hold me in contempt. It’s not even about making the Capitol safe. We’ve seen that by the selective leaks that is going on right now. This is about Donald Trump and about I’m really after him again. “

MEADOWS ATTORNEY SAYS APPEAL CHARGE ‘SEEMS UNFAIR’

Seven Democrats and two Republicans investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol voted 9-0 in favor of advancing the Meadows detention process in defiance in Congress followed by a vote in the Rules Committee on Tuesday morning . A vote of the entire House on the proposal could come on the same day.

“There is a very high probability that they will refer me for criminal contempt to the DOJ,” Meadows said, arguing that the investigation was proven political in nature and “was not based on a legislative purpose.”

U.S. representatives Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Liz Cheney (R-WY), co-chairs of the January 6th Select Committee, testified before the House Committee on Rules at the United States Capitol in Washington, US, Dec. 2, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Meadows, a former North Carolina congressman who served as chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, previously collaborated with the committee’s investigation into the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He later stopped cooperating with investigators and is now suing them.

“I can say that when you look at the criminal side of the goal, there was never a goal on my part,” Meadows said. “I tried to share non -privileged information but honestly, the executive privilege that Donald Trump claims is not mine to relinquish, congress did not wave and that is why we filed a lawsuit so that the courts would hopefully weigh in. – I hope they weigh.

Ene. 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Wrote in a 51-page report released Sunday that Meadows contacted at least some of the private individuals who planned and organized a rally on Jan. 6, that one was reported to have expressed safety concerns to Mr. Meadows about the events on January 6th.

The report also accused Meadows of using his personal cell phone to discuss the rally in the days before Jan. 6.

PHOTO FILE: Mark Meadows as Chief of Staff of the White House. REUTERS/Al Drago/File Picture/File Photo (REUTERS/Al Drago/File Picture/File Photo)

“They want to talk about the part that fits their narrative,” Meadows told Hannity, “and what we do know is that one of the things that comes out more and clearer each day is that as everyone judges what happened in terms of breach of security in the capitol on the 6th of January. “

A letter Monday from Meadows ’attorney, George Terwilliger, argued that referring Meadows for contempt would harm the institution of the presidency by tackling the separation of powers, which it could possibly be reluctant to do. future presidential advisers are reluctant to offer the president their full and honest advice on key decisions. .

The Jan. 6 Committee, however, has aggressively asserted what it claims is its constitutional power over supervision and investigation. Thompson and Ranking Member Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Said last week that Meadows ’privilege claims don’t cover nearly everything she’ll discuss in committee.

Meadows was the latest Trump adviser to face the committee’s legal wrath on Jan. 6. In November, a federal grand jury charged former senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon with two counts of contempt in Congress. The committee also referred former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress.

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“Obviously there’s a political narrative that really focuses on Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States and sadly, when we look at what needs to be done, I’m not sure this committee is set up to do that. , ”Meadows said.

When asked how he intended to respond to the House vote, Meadows said, “hopefully the court will weigh in.”

But, he added, “if we look at senior officials, staff leaders forcing them to come in and testify and what we see now, there is a lot of jurisprudence and legal opinion and the law would suggest that it is not. something that should be within the scope of Congress. “

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