The house tried to fight Meadows’ refusal to testify in the Capitol Hill investigation. To that end, the House of Representatives on Friday highlighted statements that had not previously been revealed by witnesses, such as Cassidy Hutchinson, the former official.
The House of Representatives case on Friday night comes in a case in which Meadows filed a lawsuit to block congressional summonses, and the House is fighting for legal support to gather more details about then-President Donald Trump’s interest in overturning the result of the 2020 presidential election
In the documentation, the Chamber released new text messages between Meadows and Pennsylvania Representative Scott Perry, as a plan is being drawn up to review the leadership of the Department of Justice. The House also cites shocking exchanges between Meadows and President Donald Trump Jr.’s son, as well as right-wing leaders Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, to highlight their points.
The chamber said the information it had gathered and interviewed witnesses such as Hutchinson had allowed it to “identify more accurately” what Meadows still wanted to ask, according to the documentation.
Hutchinson testified that Meadows was directly warned of the potential for violence on January 6.
“I know that people have provided him with information that shows that there may be violence on the 6th,” she told the commission. “But, again, I’m not sure if he – what he did with this information internally,” the commission said she testified.
Hutchinson also testified that she heard the office of Trump’s adviser at the White House say that the plan to use alternative electoral groups to try to undo Joe Biden’s presidential victory was not legally viable, according to the documentation.
Hutchinson also cited the names of campaign officials and lawmakers she sees as defenders of former Vice President Mike Pence, who did not do his job on Jan. 6 and instead did “something other than just counting the vote.”
On the campaign side, Hutchinson named Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis, all members of Trump’s legal team who have repeatedly exposed a series of false allegations and conspiracy theories about alleged voter fraud.
Hutchinson nominated Republican Perry, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia and Lauren Bebert of Colorado. The commission asked Perry and Jordan to speak to the commission voluntarily, and both refused.
The chamber sought out Hutchinson last year when it called in a group of former officials with close ties to Trump. Hutchinson was a special legislative assistant and adviser to Meadows, who was at the White House on Jan. 6 and at the Trump rally in Ellipse. Hutchinson was also aware of Meadows’ efforts to talk to others about investigating post-election fraud.
Also in a motion on Friday night on January 6, the commission asked federal judge Carl Nichols of the District Court of the District of Columbia to make a final decision in the case in favor of the Chamber, a move that could speed up court proceedings and end other stalemates. situations between the commission and former White House witnesses over the privilege of the executive branch.
The secret of the presidency has been used by some of Trump’s allies to refrain from testifying.
This was also Meadows’ main defense, prompting the Chamber to refer him to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution. He has not been charged. The resolution in the lawsuit on whether Meadows is protected from privileges will unravel some questions that could arise if the Department of Justice accuses him of contempt of Congress.
Meadows has already handed over extensive documents to the House, including more than 2,300 text messages from his personal phone, the commission said on Friday.
Earlier, courts quickly followed up on a case by an elected House committee to access information from the Trump-era White House. Trump lost as the Supreme Court determined the commission’s needs over claims to executive privileges that the former president could make for documents held by the National Archives.
But there is still no definitive answer as to whether administration officials who were close to the former president could be protected from questioning.
The House of Representatives said on Friday that regardless of Meadows’ position in the West Wing, he should be released from special executive protections.
“He did not behave like a typical White House chief of staff who advises the president on formal government policy issues,” the chamber’s lawyers wrote. “Mr Meadows played a role in the campaign, trying to facilitate a strategy that would reverse the certified results of the 2020 elections.”
CNN’s Annie Grayer contributed to this report.
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