Mark Meadows testified before grand jury and could be part of Jack Smith's probe into Trump: report
Sarah K. Burris
RAW STORY
June 6, 2023, 5:54 PM ET
Mark Meadows on Facebook.
Former chief of staff Mark Meadows has been largely quiet recently, New York Times reporter Mike Schmidt told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday, and they wondered why that might be.
June 6, 2023, 5:54 PM ET
Mark Meadows on Facebook.
Former chief of staff Mark Meadows has been largely quiet recently, New York Times reporter Mike Schmidt told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday, and they wondered why that might be.
As it turns out, Schmidt explained, it's been discovered that Meadows, a "potentially key figure in inquiries related to Mr. Trump, has testified before a federal grand jury hearing evidence in the investigations being led by the special counsel’s office, according to two people briefed on the matter."
There are two investigations under Smith – one relates to the classified document scandal and the other goes to the Jan. 6 attack and the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election. Meadows has been a large part of the latter, though it isn't clear which investigation he testified in.
The Times characterized Meadows as a polarizing figure in the Trump White House, who served as nothing more than a glorified gatekeeper. Lately, Trump's aides and allies have been confused about why Meadows has kept his head down. "Some of Mr. Trump’s advisers believe he could be a significant witness in the inquiries," Schmidt said.
Trump himself has asked about Meadows, those familiar with the president's conversations told the Times.
Meadows' lawyer George Terwilliger, said, “Without commenting on whether or not Mr. Meadows has testified before the grand jury or in any other proceeding, Mr. Meadows has maintained a commitment to tell the truth where he has a legal obligation to do so.”
Read the full report at the New York Times here.
There are two investigations under Smith – one relates to the classified document scandal and the other goes to the Jan. 6 attack and the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election. Meadows has been a large part of the latter, though it isn't clear which investigation he testified in.
The Times characterized Meadows as a polarizing figure in the Trump White House, who served as nothing more than a glorified gatekeeper. Lately, Trump's aides and allies have been confused about why Meadows has kept his head down. "Some of Mr. Trump’s advisers believe he could be a significant witness in the inquiries," Schmidt said.
Trump himself has asked about Meadows, those familiar with the president's conversations told the Times.
Meadows' lawyer George Terwilliger, said, “Without commenting on whether or not Mr. Meadows has testified before the grand jury or in any other proceeding, Mr. Meadows has maintained a commitment to tell the truth where he has a legal obligation to do so.”
Read the full report at the New York Times here.
Sarah K. Burris
RAW STORY
June 6, 2023,
Mark Meadows. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
The New York Times published a bombshell report that former Donald Trump chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has appeared before the grand jury for both the 2020 election probe as well as the classified documents probe. This could reportedly make Trump very upset.
MSNBC host Ari Melber explained that Meadows was among those on the Trump staff to serve as a representative to the National Archives in the final days of the presidency.
"Then there's this," Melber read from the Times. "And this is new as well. Mark Meadows' lawyer, telling The New York Times that Meadows maintained a commitment to tell the truth where he has a legal obligation to do so. The answer is no, not in MAGA land, not with a president who demands that everyone basically attack everything as a witch-hunt. The obligation to tell the truth, the signal he's sending to people in the probe as well as certainly any prosecutor who might ever judge him is 'I'm on board cooperating.'"
The Times also mentions that, when it comes to the coup plot, Meadows remains a key witness to the special counsel.
"His lawyer seems to think it's a good time to remind everyone he's cooperating, which isn't going to make Donald Trump happy tonight," Melber also said. "And this is all coming out on one of the busiest weeks we've ever seen in the special counsel probe."
Renato Mariotti, former U.S. attorney, told Melber that a key piece of the Jan. 6 Committee's investigation came from Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified last year that she observed many conversations between Meadows and others in the White House ahead of and on Jan. 6. She also testified she witnessed Meadows burning documents once or twice a week.
June 6, 2023,
Mark Meadows. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
The New York Times published a bombshell report that former Donald Trump chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has appeared before the grand jury for both the 2020 election probe as well as the classified documents probe. This could reportedly make Trump very upset.
MSNBC host Ari Melber explained that Meadows was among those on the Trump staff to serve as a representative to the National Archives in the final days of the presidency.
"Then there's this," Melber read from the Times. "And this is new as well. Mark Meadows' lawyer, telling The New York Times that Meadows maintained a commitment to tell the truth where he has a legal obligation to do so. The answer is no, not in MAGA land, not with a president who demands that everyone basically attack everything as a witch-hunt. The obligation to tell the truth, the signal he's sending to people in the probe as well as certainly any prosecutor who might ever judge him is 'I'm on board cooperating.'"
The Times also mentions that, when it comes to the coup plot, Meadows remains a key witness to the special counsel.
"His lawyer seems to think it's a good time to remind everyone he's cooperating, which isn't going to make Donald Trump happy tonight," Melber also said. "And this is all coming out on one of the busiest weeks we've ever seen in the special counsel probe."
Renato Mariotti, former U.S. attorney, told Melber that a key piece of the Jan. 6 Committee's investigation came from Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified last year that she observed many conversations between Meadows and others in the White House ahead of and on Jan. 6. She also testified she witnessed Meadows burning documents once or twice a week.
Mark Meadows is the 'single most important witness' — on multiple federal cases: legal expert
RAW STORY
June 6, 2023
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows testified to a grand jury in the federal investigations of Donald Trump, according to a bombshell report on Tuesday. He could reportedly be a very important witness.
Speaking to CNN, legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig outlined just how valuable a witness Meadows is, in not one but both of the federal investigations into the former president.
"Pretty big win for the special counsel, Jack Smith, to secure the testimony of Mark Meadows," said anchor Jake Tapper.
"Yeah, Jake, this is significant in a few respects," said Honig. "First of all, Mark Meadows was one of the last remaining major witnesses who we knew was outstanding, who, until this point, we did not know had testified. Now he has testified. If it's in a grand jury, he has testified under oath. He obviously was very close to Donald Trump throughout the lead-up to and during January 6th. I think he's the single most important witness as to January 6th and, as you said, he would have relevant information, potentially, as well about the retention of sensitive or classified documents that underlies the Mar-a-Lago examination and investigation. So Mark Meadows is a crucial witness on both of the matters that the special counsel has before him right now.
"I personally, as a journalist, have a lot of questions for him about these conversations," said Tapper. "One of the questions is, what exactly did he convey to the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, if anything, leading up to that time? There's talk of them reaching out to Meadows and Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, who are the individuals that have the relationships with those far-right paramilitary groups."
"I think that's the issue with Mark Meadows: he seems to have been a fulcrum of communications," said Honig. "Everything went through him, and Meadows did cooperate briefly with the January 6th Committee and turned over those hundreds or thousands of very revealing text messages where we saw members of Congress and members of Donald Trump's family and White House advisers reaching out to him saying, you've got to do something, you have to get him to do something. Now Mark Meadows then suddenly hit a wall and basically said, I'm not cooperating then, and he was held in contempt by the January 6th Committee, although DOJ declined to prosecute him."
"One big question I have about the testimony that we're now learning Mark Meadows gave is, under what conditions did he give that testimony?" Honig added. "We know that he raised an executive privilege objection, basically saying, I can't testify about these confidential communications with the president, but he lost that fight. He and Donald Trump lost that fight in court. I wonder whether Mark Meadows took the Fifth and had to be given immunity in order to testify, and it's really important to know, did he have any agreement in place with prosecutors that underlied his testimony?"
Elie Honig weighs in on Mark Meadows testimony
June 6, 2023
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows testified to a grand jury in the federal investigations of Donald Trump, according to a bombshell report on Tuesday. He could reportedly be a very important witness.
Speaking to CNN, legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig outlined just how valuable a witness Meadows is, in not one but both of the federal investigations into the former president.
"Pretty big win for the special counsel, Jack Smith, to secure the testimony of Mark Meadows," said anchor Jake Tapper.
"Yeah, Jake, this is significant in a few respects," said Honig. "First of all, Mark Meadows was one of the last remaining major witnesses who we knew was outstanding, who, until this point, we did not know had testified. Now he has testified. If it's in a grand jury, he has testified under oath. He obviously was very close to Donald Trump throughout the lead-up to and during January 6th. I think he's the single most important witness as to January 6th and, as you said, he would have relevant information, potentially, as well about the retention of sensitive or classified documents that underlies the Mar-a-Lago examination and investigation. So Mark Meadows is a crucial witness on both of the matters that the special counsel has before him right now.
"I personally, as a journalist, have a lot of questions for him about these conversations," said Tapper. "One of the questions is, what exactly did he convey to the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, if anything, leading up to that time? There's talk of them reaching out to Meadows and Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, who are the individuals that have the relationships with those far-right paramilitary groups."
"I think that's the issue with Mark Meadows: he seems to have been a fulcrum of communications," said Honig. "Everything went through him, and Meadows did cooperate briefly with the January 6th Committee and turned over those hundreds or thousands of very revealing text messages where we saw members of Congress and members of Donald Trump's family and White House advisers reaching out to him saying, you've got to do something, you have to get him to do something. Now Mark Meadows then suddenly hit a wall and basically said, I'm not cooperating then, and he was held in contempt by the January 6th Committee, although DOJ declined to prosecute him."
"One big question I have about the testimony that we're now learning Mark Meadows gave is, under what conditions did he give that testimony?" Honig added. "We know that he raised an executive privilege objection, basically saying, I can't testify about these confidential communications with the president, but he lost that fight. He and Donald Trump lost that fight in court. I wonder whether Mark Meadows took the Fifth and had to be given immunity in order to testify, and it's really important to know, did he have any agreement in place with prosecutors that underlied his testimony?"
Elie Honig weighs in on Mark Meadows testimony
No comments:
Post a Comment