Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows was subpoenaed by the special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump’s role in the January 6 riot at the Capitol building, according to a report on Wednesday.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s office is seeking testimony related to the riot from Meadows, who was Trump’s right hand around the time of the attack. Meadows received the subpoena sometime in January, an unnamed source told CNN. Smith is also seeking documents related to the riot.
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Meadows was in and out of the Oval Office on January 6 and was a witness to the former president’s reaction to the rioters.
Meadows could also aid Smith’s investigation into Trump’s larger efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Meadows was at a December meeting at the White House when people talked about Trump’s election fraud claims, and he was also involved in the infamous call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger regarding Georgia certifying its election results, per CNN.
The former chief of staff is not expected to take the summon without a fight, though. Meadows tried to reject a subpoena from a grand jury in Georgia that was investigating Trump’s attempt to overturn the election by citing executive privilege. But a judge later made him testify by determining he was “necessary to the investigation.”
Although Meadow’s testimony in Smith’s subpoena will center on the riot on Capitol Hill, Meadows could also be subpoenaed for his role in Trump’s decision to take classified documents out of the Oval Office after his term ended, which Smith is also investigating.
The former president moved classified documents from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida instead of turning them over to the National Archives at the end of his term. Meadows was one of his National Archives designees.
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Smith’s move to subpoena Meadows is the latest in his string of calling for Trump’s senior aides. He previously subpoenaed Trump’s former national security adviser Robert O’Brien and subpoenaed former Vice President Mike Pence last week. O’Brien is expected to testify in both investigations.