Former United States President Donald Trump's final White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, failed to appear before the House Select Committee responsible for investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, risking contempt of Congress proceedings.
Two sources familiar with the matter said that Meadows did not show up for the deposition on Capitol Hill after he was given a subpoena by the House Select Committee. The official's schedule was set to begin at 10:00 a.m. ET, but after about 10 minutes, roughly a dozen committee staff members and investigators grabbed their belongings and left the room along with the stenographer.
Defying a Subpoena
Later, committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and ranking member Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming confirmed that Meadows was a no-show. They then threatened the official that they would pursue contempt of Congress proceedings.
"Mr. Meadows's actions today, choosing to defy the law, will force the Select Committee to consider pursuing contempt or other proceedings to enforce the subpoena," said the two members of the committee in a joint statement. They added that the official failed to "answer even the most basic questions," NBC News reported.
The two officials of the committee said that it was an unfortunate decision that Meadows chose to be among the small group of individuals who believe they were above the law by defying the Select Committee's subpoena outright. Additionally, Meadows' attorney did not respond to a request for comment regarding the official's absence from the deposition.
Prior to the scheduled Friday deposition, George J. Terwilliger, Meadows' attorney, said that his client would not be complying with the committee's subpoena until courts rule on former U.S. President Trump's claim of executive privilege that would prevent the committee from accessing specific House records.
Trump's Claim of Executive Privilege
Terwilliger said that the issue lied in whether or not his client was compelled to testify and whether or not he actually could be forced to answer questions that involve privileged communications. The attorney said that Meadows' concern was that it was irresponsible for him to prematurely resolve the dispute by voluntarily waiving privileges that are the core of the legal issues, CNN reported.
In a joint statement, Thompson and Cheney said that individuals such as Meadows and Steve Bannon, who was previously held in contempt for defying the committee's subpoena, would not prevail in stopping efforts to get answers related to the events of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot. The two officials said that the committee's efforts were to make legislative recommendations to help protect the country's democracy and make sure nothing similar happens in the future.
On Thursday, a federal appeals court intervened to temporarily block the National Archives from releasing House records under Trump's presidency over to the Select Committee ahead of a Friday deadline. The decision forced a new timeline on the committee because of the scheduled Trump appeal.
A White House official released a statement that said they would be leaving it up to the courts to resolve the dispute. However, they said that Terwilliger was wrong on both the facts and about the law of the United States, ABC News reported.
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