Mark Meadows: Trump’s chief of staff was subpoenaed by the special counsel during the investigation on January 6

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CNN —

Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows was subpoenaed by the special counsel investigating the former president and his role in the insurgency on January 6, 2021, a source familiar with the matter told CNN .

Special counsel Jack Smith’s office is seeking documents and testimony related to Jan. 6, and Meadows received the subpoena in January, the source said. An attorney for Meadows declined to comment.

The Justice Department did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the subpoena.

The move to subpoena one of Trump’s most senior aides in addition to the recent subpoena of former Vice President Mike Pence, as CNN reported last week marks the latest significant step in the special counsel’s investigation into Trump’s role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Smith is also investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving office. While the subpoena relates to Jan. 6, Meadows may also be interested in examining the documents. He was one of Trump’s appointees to the National Archives and played a role in discussions about returning government records to his possession.

The special counsel’s subpoena could set up a clash with the Justice Department and Meadows over executive privilege. The former White House chief of staff, who cited executive privilege, previously fought a subpoena from a special grand jury in Georgia investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Later, a judge ordered Meadows to testify, finding him material and necessary to the investigation.

Meadows was involved in the embarrassing phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and a White House meeting in December 2020 about election fraud claims. Meadows also visited a site where an election audit was being conducted in Georgia and sent emails to Justice Department officials about fraud allegations.

On January 6, Meadows was in and out of the Oval Office and witnessed Trump’s actions as rioters overran the US Capitol that day.

The recent subpoena for Meadows also underscores the aggressiveness of the special counsel’s investigation. CNN reported that Smith also subpoenaed former Trump national security adviser Robert OBrien in the same Trump-related investigations, and Justice Department lawyers interviewed former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf in recent weeks as part of the 2020 election interference investigation.

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