Jan. 6 panel eyes Meadows contempt vote but 'won't rush'

Source: Associated Press

Jan. 6 panel eyes Meadows contempt vote but ‘won’t rush’

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and FARNOUSH AMIRI
November 16, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection says there is still time for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to comply with a subpoena before the panel moves forward with a vote to hold him in contempt of Congress.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Tuesday that the committee “won’t rush the effort” to make it clear it has given the former North Carolina congressman multiple opportunities to cooperate. At the same time, the panel is prepared to hold Meadows in contempt in the coming weeks if he doesn’t give lawmakers any information about his role, and former President Donald Trump’s, as the Capitol was attacked that day.

The panel is also discussing a vote to hold former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark in contempt after Clark appeared for a deposition earlier this month and declined to answer questions. Clark is a former assistant attorney general who aligned himself with Trump after Trump lost the 2020 election and pressured the Justice Department to help overturn his defeat.

“We think we are on sound footing at this point, but on the advice of counsel, we want to be able to indicate that we’ve made the best good-faith effort we can to get this information,” Thompson told reporters on Tuesday. He said the panel is unlikely to hold a contempt vote before lawmakers leave town for the Thanksgiving break.

Meadows’ lawyer has repeatedly made clear that he won’t comply with the September subpoena, arguing that Trump has said he will assert executive privilege over the testimony. Meadows was Trump’s top aide at the time of the insurrection, unlike longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, who was held in contempt by the House in October and indicted last week. Bannon had left the White House years earlier.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/steve-bannon-donald-trump-subpoenas-bennie-thompson-congress-83734f355b664697f5022709982d2226