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Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows accused the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection of leaking text messages he provided in an effort to publicly vilify him.
Meadow made this contention in a filing Friday in District of Columbia’s federal court, asking a judge to reject the committee’s request for an expedited ruling that would force him to comply with subpoenas.
MEADOWS WAS WARNED OF POSSIBLE JAN. 6 VIOLENCE, OFFICIAL TESTIFIES
The committee requested an expedited briefing schedule Wednesday after filing its motion.
His attorneys claimed Meadows deserved to take depositions and gather pertinent information through discovery.
His motion also accuses the committee of waging a “sustained media campaign” against Meadows, though it did not provide evidence for that allegation.
On Friday, CNN said it had obtained 2,319 text messages that Meadows had sent and received between Election Day 2020 and President Biden’s inauguration.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows speaks with reporters outside the White House Oct. 26, 2020, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
“The congressional defendants, under the auspices of a legitimate subpoena, induced Mr. Meadows to produce thousands of his private communications only to use them in a concerted and ongoing effort to vilify him publicly through the media,” Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger, wrote.
Committee court filings have shown that Meadows was in regular contact before Jan. 6, 2021, with Republicans who advanced false claims of election fraud and supported overturning the results of the 2020 election.
A filing last week cited testimony from a White House aide who said Meadows had been advised that there could be violence Jan. 6.
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“I know that there were concerns brought forward to Mr. Meadows. I don’t know. I don’t want to speculate whether or not they perceived them as genuine concerns, but I know that people had brought information forward to him that had indicated that there could be violence on the sixth,” Cassidy Hutchinson, former special assistant to the president and coordinator for legislative affairs, said in a committee court filing. “But, again, I’m not sure if he, what he did with that information internally.”
Hutchinson clarified she did not know what information was given to Meadows or how it was used afterward.
The House of Representatives voted in December to hold Meadows in criminal contempt after he ceased cooperating.
Meadows sued the House committee earlier in the month after defying a subpoena.
The Justice Department has not said whether it will take action on the matter.
Chad Pergram tweeted Saturday that Fox News was told the committee would conduct eight hearings in June and a ninth and final hearing in September.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows listens during an announcement of the creation of a new South Carolina Freedom Caucus based on a similar national group at a news conference April 20, 2022, in Columbia, S.C.
(AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, File)
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Each hearing will focus on a specific “theme” connected to the riot.
He said the panel will issue its report in connection with the September hearing.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Timothy Nerozzi and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
