Is Mark Meadows next? Jan. 6 committee plans to "move very quickly" on criminal charges
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot will "move quickly" to refer former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to the Justice Department for criminal contempt charges after he refused to cooperate with the investigation, according to committee member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Meadows refused to appear for a deposition on Friday, citing Donald Trump's dubious claim of post-presidential executive privilege after President Biden refused to shield White House documents subpoenaed by the committee. Schiff told NBC News on Sunday that the panel plans to refer the former top Trump aide to the Justice Department for criminal contempt over his refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena.
"I'm confident we'll move very quickly with respect to Mr. Meadows also, but we want to make sure that we have the strongest possible case to present to the Justice Department and for the Justice Department to present to a grand jury," said Schiff, who also chairs the House Intelligence Committee. "But when ultimately witnesses decide, as Meadows has, that they're not even going to bother showing up, that they have that much contempt for the law, then it pretty much forces our hand, and we'll move quickly."
Meadows, who previously served in the House and chaired the far-right Free Dumb Caucus, had a very different view on congressional subpoenas when he was in Congress, criticizing the Justice Department and then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in 2018 for "stonewalling" House subpoenas aimed at discrediting former special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/is-mark-meadows-next-jan-6-committee-plans-to-move-very-quickly-on-criminal-charges/ar-AAQJPCS