Mark Meadows, the chief of staff to former President Donald Trump, decried the Jan. 6 panel’s use of “broad” subpoenas as an abuse of power and warned that under their terms, he would not cooperate, despite the threat of a contempt of Congress charge.
“Hopefully,” Meadows, author of “The Chief’s Chief” told Newsmax‘s “Cortes & Pellegrino,” the panel “will understand that my accommodation and willingness to answer — even now — questions through in interrogatories still exists, but they rejected every attempt we’ve made to try to cooperate.”
Meadows added, in the past “48-72 hours,” he received a subpoena after he “had voluntarily given some nonprivileged information to the committee.”
“We got a subpoena that was so broad in scope,” Meadows said, “that every single … phone record … geolocation, you name it; the broad scope of the subpoena was just breathtaking.
“I can tell you when I was in Congress, we used subpoenas … [in a] very limited and very focused basis. Obviously, the Jan. 6 committee has taken a very different approach. And candidly, I think it’s an abuse of power.”
The co-chairs of the Jan. 6. panel, Reps. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., warned Tuesday, if Meadows does not appear before the panel Wednesday, then the “Select Committee will be left no choice but to advance contempt proceedings and recommend that the body in which Mr. Meadows once served refer him for criminal prosecution.”
Via Newsmax