Mark Meadows, a White House chief of staff under President Donald Trump, has been subpoenaed by the Justice Department special counsel investigating Trump and the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to multiple news reports.
Meadows, Trump’s last chief of staff, received the subpoena “sometime in January” to testify before a grand jury, according to CNN, which first reported the move.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s office is seeking to compel Meadows to provide testimony and documents related to Trump’s failed efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Meadows is the highest-ranking Trump confidant to receive a grand jury subpoena, Bloomberg reported.
Meadows was with Trump in the Oval Office as the former president’s supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He also was involved in Trump’s infamous call to Georgia’s secretary of state seeking to overturn his election defeat there.
Meadows refused to be questioned by the House Jan. 6 committee, claiming executive privilege. The House panel referred him to the Justice Department for contempt, but the DOJ declined to bring charges.
Smith’s office also has subpoenaed former Vice President Mike Pence, who called the Justice Department’s action “unconstitutional and unprecedented” and promised to challenge the subpoena in court. Pence’s two top aides already have appeared before the grand jury.
Neither George Terwilliger, a lawyer for Meadows, nor the Justice Department responded to HuffPost’s requests for comment.