Recently, Mark Meadows launched a lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with other members of the House Select Committee currently investigating the events of January 6.
Meadows filed his lawsuit in a federal court in Washington, D. C. on Wednesday after the January 6 panel claimed that it had “no choice” other than to recommend criminal contempt of Congress proceedings against Meadows, who opted to no longer cooperate with the ongoing panel investigation.
Meadows, who previously served as the Chief of Staff for the Trump White House, has requested for the court to invalidate the two subpoenas that the committee had issued against him.
According to the lawsuit complaint, Meadows, “has been put in the untenable position of choosing between conflicting privilege claims.” Specifically, Meadows is tasked with either “[risking] enforcement of the subpoena issued to him” or “unilaterally abandoning the former president’s claims of privileges.”
Consequently, Meadows, who is also a former congressional representative, noted that he needs to evaluate the appropriate laws in this case, noting that he has made an effort to accommodate the committee’s requests “in good faith.”
However, the leadership of the January 6 commission is confident that it will prevail against Meadows.
Chairman Bennie Thompson and Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney released a statement criticizing the “flawed lawsuit” launched by Meadows, adding that the suit “won’t succeed at slowing down the Select Committee’s investigation or stopping us from getting the information we’re seeking.”
Thompson and Cheney also added that Meadows will be “[referred] to the Department of Justice for prosecution.”
Previously, Meadows agreed to make a deposition appearance before the committee; however, he changed his mind, noting that the panel was attempting to acquire privileged information from him, including his personal cell phone records.
In addition, former President Donald J. Trump has also strongly encouraged aides from his administration to avoid compliance with any subpoenas issued from the January 6 Commission, citing executive privilege as justification for this encouragement.
However, President Joe Biden has reportedly waived any claims regarding executive privilege with regards to January 6 records, a controversy that is currently being debated in court.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Meadows proclaimed that he has tried to provide the committee with an array of options to respond to their inquiries while also accounting for Trump’s requests.
Meadows also noted that he had no awareness of anyone in the White House that had any kind of advance knowledge that “security [would] be breached at the Capitol.”
Moreover, Meadows has also provided the January 6 committee with over 6,000 pages of documents.
Steve Bannon, who formerly served as one of Trump’s advisors, has also ignored a subpoena from the January 6 Commission. Bannon is presently facing contempt of Congress charges, with a tentative trial date of July 18.