Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team accused former President Donald Trump in a new court filing this week of threatening his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, after a news report was published that said Meadows had been granted immunity in the federal criminal case against Trump over his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
ABC News reported on Tuesday that Meadows allegedly told investigators that he repeatedly warned the former president that his claims of the 2020 presidential election being “rigged” and “stolen” were baseless. The report said that Meadows was granted immunity to testify in front of a Washington federal grand jury earlier this year before Trump was indicted.
Trump responded to the reporting by issuing a statement in which he said that if Meadows accepted an immunity deal from prosecutors, he was a “weakling,” “coward,” and “so bad for the future our Failing Nation”:
I don’t think Mark Meadows would lie about the Rigged and Stollen 2020 Presidential Election merely for getting IMMUNITY against Prosecution (PERSECUTION!) by Deranged Prosecutor, Jack Smith. BUT, when you really think about it, after being hounded like a dog for three years, told you’ll be going to jail for the rest of your life, your money and your family will be forever gone, and we’re not at all interested in exposing those that did the RIGGING — If you say BAD THINGS about that terrible “MONSTER,” DONALD J. TRUMP, we won’t put you in prison, you can keep your family and your wealth, and, perhaps, if you can make up some really horrible “STUFF” a out him, we may very well erect a statue of you in the middle of our decaying and now very violent Capital, Washington, D.C. Some people would make that deal, but they are weaklings and cowards, and so bad for the future our Failing Nation. I don’t think that Mark Meadows is one of them, but who really knows? MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!
Smith’s team responded to Trump’s post on social media by writing in a filing to U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan that they believe he was trying to “send an unmistakable and threatening message to a foreseeable witness in this case.”
They said that Trump’s post was another example of why a limited gag order needed to be imposed to prevent the former president from threatening or intimidating individuals involved in the case.
They argued that Trump was trying to “use external influences to distort the trial in his favor,” which, “when directed against witnesses and trial participants, pose a grave threat to the very notion of a fair trial based on the facts and the law.”
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Trump later claimed on social media that Meadows “NEVER told me that allegations of significant fraud (about the RIGGED Election!) were baseless. He certainly didn’t say that in his book!”
CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge said that Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger, had pushed back on ABC News’ report from earlier this week.
“I told ABC that their story was largely inaccurate. People will have to judge for themselves the decision to run it anyway,” he said. “Ex-Chief of Staff granted immunity, tells special counsel he warned Trump about 2020 claims: Sources.”
NEW: “I told ABC that their story was largely inaccurate. People will have to judge for themselves the decision to run it anyway.” George Terwilliger, Mark Meadows lawyer, to CBS News, responding to new reporting “Ex-Chief of Staff granted immunity, tells special counsel he…
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) October 24, 2023