![]() “I think from our standpoint, we’re just taking his word for it. They argue it’s unclear how valuable Meadows’ information could be in a trial setting, and they tell CNN that they’re taking Terwilliger’s statement about the ABC News story at face value. Trump’s federal indictment also references Meadows’ emails about the electors and mentions his conversations with Trump about voter fraud allegations – making it likely that Meadows could be a trial witness on those topics.Īdvisers to the former president insist that they’re not concerned about Meadows’ level of cooperation, at least for now. The Georgia indictment accuses Meadows of working with Trump to pressure Georgia election officials to interfere with the vote tally, and says he was involved in some of the fake-elector efforts. (He pleaded not guilty to two state crimes.) But I trust that Mark – Mark thinks the world of President Trump, as do I.”īut Meadows also provided damning text messages to the January 6 committee in fall 2021, and gave crucial grand jury testimony to Smith’s team this year – and is currently fighting his own criminal charges in Georgia. When Jordan was asked Thursday in a Newsmax interview whether Meadows had turned on Trump, he replied, “I don’t believe Mark would do that. Sarah Silbiger/UPI/Bloomberg/Getty Images Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff, listens as President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday, July 29, 2020. He has been a crucial player over the last several months in advising right-wing holdouts on how to exact concessions from House GOP leadership, as CNN reported in May.ĭuring the most recent speaker fight, Meadows’ DC-based think tank, the Conservative Partnership Institute, where Meadows is senior partner, played a significant role in boosting the failed speakership candidacy of fellow Freedom Caucus member Jim Jordan, coordinating with members, organizing calls and strategizing with right-wing activists about ways to whip up support for the Ohio Republican, sources told CNN. Since Trump left office, Meadows has kept close ties with many of the former president’s allies in Congress. Meadows’ legal team declined to comment for this story. Meadows did not respond to requests for comment. People will have to judge for themselves the decision to run it anyway.” Terwilliger did not say which parts of the story he thought were inaccurate. It’s one of the reasons the bipartisan January 6 committee said Meadows was “uniquely situated to provide critical information” about the attempts “to delay or prevent the peaceful transfer of power.”Īfter ABC News published its report, Meadows’ attorney George Terwilliger said in a statement, “I told ABC that their story was largely inaccurate. ![]() ![]() “That doesn’t mean that he’s selling anybody out or flipping.”Īs recently as this month, Meadows met privately with House Republicans, both on and off Capitol Hill, about the race for House speaker- pushing GOP members toward supporting more conservative candidates who are aligned with Trump, sources familiar with the meetings told CNN.Īnd yet, Meadows is a key witness against Trump in his criminal cases. “He’s just trying to be a good faith operator and work with them,” a person close to Meadows told CNN about his interactions with special counsel prosecutors. He didn’t get blanket immunity but instead received assurances he wouldn’t be prosecuted for what he shared with investigators, the sources said.Īs a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus who spent years in Congress as a partisan attack dog, Meadows still wields significant influence among conservative lawmakers. But his clout within pro-Trump circles could be threatened if Republicans suspect that he turned on the former president. Meadows provided information to federal investigators in both the 2020 election subversion and the classified documents investigations after receiving immunity to comply with a subpoena, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. That balancing act was on full display Tuesday night: Hours after an ABC News report that Meadows had been granted immunity and met multiple times with special counsel Jack Smith’s team, Meadows was spotted at a right-wing gala in Washington, DC, mingling with well-connected Republicans, according to two people in attendance. Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows has been walking a tightrope, trying to strike a careful balance of complying with federal investigators who are using his testimony to prosecute Trump, while not crossing any red lines that would jeopardize his influential political relationships with congressional Republicans.
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