US House Capitol Assault Panel Threatens to Hold Ex-Trump Chief-of-Staff in Contempt

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US House Capitol attack panel may advance contempt proceedings against Trump administration Chief of Staff Mark Meadows after he informed the committee he would no longer cooperate.

That cooperation has ended because of concerns about the ability of Meadows, who served as President Donald Trump's chief of staff, to claim executive privilege when the panel indicated that it planned to investigate privileged subjects, Meadows' lawyer George Terwilliger said.

"Mark Meadows has informed the Select Committee that he does not intend to cooperate further despite his apparent willingness to provide details about the January 6th attack, including conversations with President [Donald] Trump, in the book he is now promoting and selling," the committee said in a tweet on Tuesday.

The committee has argued that there is no valid legal basis for Meadows' continued resistance to requests for information considering President Joe Biden decided not to invoke executive privilege to protect the documents or testimony.

Tomorrow’s deposition will go forward as planned.

If indeed Mr. Meadows refuses to appear, the Select Committee will be left no choice but to advance contempt proceedings and recommend that the body in which Meadows once served refer him for criminal prosecution.

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) December 7, 2021