Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s last chief of staff, has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to a person familiar with the matter.
(Bloomberg) — Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s last chief of staff, has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Meadows was subpoenaed as part of an investigation being led by Special Counsel Jack Smith and would become the highest-ranking official who worked for Trump to go before the grand jury, according to the person who asked to remain anonymous to speak about the matter.
The subpoena was reported earlier by CNN.
Investigators have also subpoenaed former Vice President Mike Pence to testify before the grand jury. Pence, whom Trump pressured to reject Electoral College votes from swing states, has pledged to challenge the subpoena, all the way to the US Supreme Court, if necessary.
The special counsel’s office declined to comment and a lawyer for Meadows didn’t return messages seeking comment.
Meadows was involved in the infamous, hour-long call on Jan. 2, 2021 from Trump asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 nonexistent votes to award Georgia and its electoral votes to Trump.
That call has led to scrutiny over whether language used by Trump about repercussions if his demands weren’t carried out constituted potentially illegal threats.
There also was testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee of Meadows making a “surprise” appearance at a civic center in Marietta, Georgia, where an audit was being conducted on absentee ballots.
And more generally, there has been testimony of Meadows’ knowledge of plans regarding alternate presidential elector slates from some states, including Georgia.
Meadows himself ultimately refused to sit for an interview by the committee, which was investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol. Before doing so, however, he did provide documents and communication to the panel.
The committee and entire House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for his refusal to fully comply with the panel’s subpoena — but the Justice Department declined to prosecute.
In Georgia, a judge has ordered the partial release on Thursday of a special grand jury’s report in a separate investigation on efforts by Trump and his allies to undermine the election. That release will include three sections of the report, including the introduction and conclusion, as well as a section in which “the special grand jury discusses its concern that some witnesses may have lied under oath during their testimony to the grand jury.”
Meadows, a North Carolina congressman, became chief of staff at the end of March 2020, just weeks after the coronavirus had been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. He served through Trump’s hospitalization for the virus and the election and its tumultuous aftermath, including the Capitol assault by a mob of Trump’s supporters.
(Updates with background on Meadows, inquiries, starting in sixth paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.