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Mark Meadows sues Jan. 6 committee after it says it will pursue contempt
citation
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MARK MEADOWS SUES JAN. 6 COMMITTEE AFTER IT SAYS IT WILL PURSUE CONTEMPT
CITATION

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Bart Jansen ,  Ledyard King   | USA TODAY

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Donald Trump is suing the January 6 committee: What to know about the lawsuit
Trump is suing the committee investigating the Capitol riot to block release of
documents.
Staff Video, USA TODAY


WASHINGTON – Mark Meadows, is suing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the members
of the House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection after the panel
threatened to pursue a contempt citation against the former White House chief of
staff for Donald Trump.



In the lawsuit filed late Wednesday, Meadows is asking the U.S. District Court
for the District of Columbia to invalidate "overly broad and unduly burdensome"
subpoenas the committee issued for records and to force him to appear Wednesday.

The committee, Meadows argues in the lawsuit, "acts absent any valid legislative
power and threatens to violate longstanding principles of executive privilege
and immunity that are of constitutional origin and dimension."

Leaders of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the
Capitol said they would pursue a contempt citation for Meadows, and recommend
possible criminal charges.



Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the committee, told reporters late
Wednesday that Meadows already has turned over "interesting, non-privileged
documents" including text messages and emails relating to the president's
activities during Jan. 6.



"He took an oath. He has an obligation under the law and the committee will be
moving forward on contempt," she said. "He has an obligation to answer the
questions as he's compelled to do under the subpoena about the non-privileged
texts and emails that he has already turned over to the committee."

Meadows, a former House member who defied a committee subpoena by refusing to
testify Wednesday, became the third witness to tangle with the committee over
subpoenas for documents and testimony.



Political strategist Steve Bannon faces a July 18 trial on criminal contempt
charges. The committee will meet again Dec. 16 with former Justice Department
official Jeffrey Clark before deciding whether to pursue contempt charges
against him.



“There is no legitimate legal basis for Mr. Meadows to refuse to cooperate with
the Select Committee and answer questions about the documents he produced, the
personal devices and accounts he used, the events he wrote about in is newly
released book, and, among other things, his other public statements,” Rep.
Bennie Thompson, the committee chairman, told Meadows' lawyer Tuesday in a
letter.

“The Select Committee is left with no choice but to advance contempt proceedings
and recommend that the body in which Mr. Meadows once served refer him for
criminal prosecution,” Thompson added.

The committee is investigating what led to the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol and how
the White House responded. The mob ransacked the building, injured 140 police
officers and temporarily halted the counting of Electoral College votes that
certified President Joe Biden's victory over Trump.

Meadows’ position on cooperating with the committee has changed a few times. His
lawyer, George Terwilliger, initially said he wouldn’t cooperate because of
Trump’s assertion of executive privilege to keep communications with aides
confidential.



More: Can Trump run out the clock with executive privilege claim?

After Bannon was charged, Meadows provided emails and said he would sit for a
deposition with the committee.

But then Terwilliger notified the committee Tuesday that he wouldn’t cooperate
with the deposition. Terwilliger said Meadows agreed to provide thousands of
pages of documents and testify about non-privileged matters.

Meadows provided a Nov. 7, 2020, email discussing the appointment of alternate
slates of electors as part of a “direct and collateral attack” on the election,
according to Thompson, D-Miss. And Meadows provided a Jan. 5 email regarding a
38-page PowerPoint briefing titled “Election Fraud, Foreign Interference &
Options for Jan. 6,” according to Thompson.



But Meadows also provided a log indicating he wanted to withhold several hundred
additional documents, according to Thompson. Meadows also withheld more than
1,000 text messages from his personal cell phone, Thompson said.




“The Select Committee is trying to ascertain facts that place the January 6th
attack on the Capitol in context, not conduct a law enforcement inquiry,”
Thompson said.

Members of the committee said Meadows couldn’t write a book about his
interactions with Trump and then claim his conversations were confidential.
Meadows has been promoting his book, "The Chief’s Chief."

Trump is fighting in federal court a committee subpoena to the National Archives
and Records Administration for thousands of pages of contested documents. The
D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Nov. 30, and a decision could
come any day.

Contributing: Erin Mansfield, Savannah Behrmann

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