On Monday, the House Select Committee unanimously voted in favor of keeping Meadows in contempt of Congress and now the Justice Department decides whether to pursue criminal charges against President Donald Trump’s former chief of staff. Trump or not.
The vote, despite being pushed by a Democratic majority, marks a pivotal moment in the January 6 investigation as Meadows acts as Trump’s chief of staff and his insight. about efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Meadows is the second official to face such a recommendation from the council. The committee approved a criminal contempt report against Trump ally Steve Bannon in October after he refused to comply with a subpoena deadline.
Meadows has always insisted that he wanted to shield some of his conversations with the former President as a request for executive privilege but has delivered thousands of documents that the panel said only increased his need to testify. .
But so far, Meadows has refused to do so, and his defiance was at the heart of Tuesday’s vote to indict him on criminal charges.
Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, said: “The selection committee’s report mentioning Mr. Meadows as a misdemeanor is clear and convincing.” “As White House Chief of Staff, Mr. Meadows played a role in or as a witness to the pivotal events leading up to and including the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol.”
Meadows’ attorney issued a new statement Tuesday ahead of a full vote in the House of Representatives saying his client is still cooperating with the committee in some ways, but he cannot be forced to. had to appear for questioning because he was not authorized to waive Trump’s claimed Executive Privileges.
Meadows “has been fully cooperative with respect to documents not owned by him and has sought various ways to provide other information while continuing to respect the former president’s requests for privilege.” , his attorney George J. Terwilliger III said in a statement.
Republican Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, vice chair of the selection committee, said on Tuesday that Meadows had received multiple text messages urging Trump to take action to stop the riot he’s caused. without any privilege request.
Late Tuesday, Thompson told CNN that the committee will “make a decision within a week or so of publishing” the names of the documents to Meadows by January 6 after members consulted them. several text messages exchanged between the former White House chief of staff and lawmakers during the riots.
Thompson said committee members felt it was “important” to get content out before the name was released.
“We will then do our own assessment before the committee as to whether and when we will release them,” Thompson said. “We’ll do it. I can’t tell you exactly when that will happen.”
Asked if any senators messaged Meadows on January 6, Thompson revealed, “At this point, it’s just House members.”
He also said the council will likely notify GOP members before any action is taken.
Meanwhile, the selection committee continued its investigation, interviewing more witnesses on Tuesday, including Vice President Mike Pence’s one-time national security adviser, Keith Kellogg.
Last month, Kellogg became the first person in Pence’s circle to be subpoenaed by the committee. In the letter to Kellogg, the special committee expressed interest in learning more about a January 2021 meeting with Trump and White House counsel Pat Cipollone, in which Trump emphasized that Pence did not certify the election. and any other meeting.
Kellogg was considered a key witness for his closeness to Trump on January 6. The President’s former national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, was absent that day.
Kellogg’s attorney told CNN on Tuesday that his client is testifying and cooperating with investigators. Attorneys also said Kellogg did not assert executive privilege over the testimony or documents.
While a committee aide declined to comment on what was asked or answered during the impeachment process, they did not reject the assertion that Kellogg was cooperating with the panel.
The panel also spoke with Dustin Stockton, one of the organizers behind the pro-Trump rallies that took place on January 5 and 6.
Before the meeting with the committee, Stockton’s attorney, Josh Nass, told reporters that his client had text and email messages with people “very senior in the former President’s orbit,” as well as with members of Congress, that he will turn over to the committee. Tuesday.
Lawmakers and those close to Trump “have good reason to tremble in their shoes today,” Nass said.
“We’re talking about all sorts of… email correspondence, text messages,” he said.
This story was updated with additional developments on Tuesday.
CNN’s Ryan Nobles, Kristin Wilson, Holmes Lybrand and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
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