A gag order against former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> related to his federal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/2020-election" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2020 election</a> case has been paused by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals after Trump filed an emergency request on Thursday saying the order violated his First Amendment rights. 
The court issued an administrative stay, saying that the decision was made to give the judges more time to hear Trump’s arguments. The court <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-election-gag-order-lifted-appeals-speech-f0aeb12e64ee0b3bb7544d6949368653" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the ruling “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits.”
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-reinstates-gag-order-against-trump-in-federal-election-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had imposed</a> the gag order on Trump Sunday night after Trump criticized former chief of staff Mark Meadows. Chutkan is overseeing special counsel Jack Smith’s federal election case against Trump, who has denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
In their request to pause the order on Thursday, lawyers for Trump <a href="https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/appeals-court-stays-trump-gag-order-dc-election-case?utm_source=daily&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that &#8220;[n]o court in American history has imposed a gag order on a criminal defendant who is actively campaigning for public office — let alone the leading candidate for president of the United States.&#8221;
&#8220;The prosecution’s request for a Gag Order bristles with hostility to President Trump’s viewpoint and his relentless criticism of the government — including of the prosecution itself,&#8221; the request said. &#8220;The Gag Order embodies this unconstitutional hostility to President Trump’s viewpoint. It should be immediately stayed.&#8221;
In her decision to reimpose the gag order on Sunday, Chutkan claimed that Trump’s First Amendment rights must be limited because of the ongoing trial. 
“As this court has explained, the First Amendment rights of participants in criminal proceedings must yield, when necessary, to the orderly administration of justice,” she <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.124.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, adding later, “And contrary to Defendant’s argument, the right to a fair trial is not his alone, but belongs also to the government and the public.”
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Chutkan issued a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-issues-gag-order-against-trump-in-federal-election-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">narrow gag order</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-releases-details-in-limited-gag-order-against-trump">against</a> Trump in October, restricting him from chastising prosecutors, court staff, and potential witnesses. The judge temporarily lifted the gag order at the request of Trump’s lawyers while they pursued an appeal.
Prosecutors soon <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24085250/show_temp-68.pdf">urged</a> her to reinstate the order, saying Trump went back to the sort of “targeting” it would prevent. As examples, the filing cited an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/prosecutors-accuse-trump-of-threatening-former-chief-of-staff-mark-meadows">“unmistakable and threatening message”</a> on social media about Meadows possibly testifying in exchange for immunity against prosecution and comments he made about his former chief of staff <a href="https://twitter.com/EdKrassen/status/1717190712633041168">to reporters</a> in New York. Trump also called Smith “deranged.”
On <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4292877-appeals-court-trump-gag-order-election-interference/?utm_source=hill_app&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=share-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tuesday</a>, the Trump team will have the opportunity to make their case against the gag order.
Daniel Chaitin contributed to this report.

Donald Trump Campaigns For President In Houston, Texas

Court Pauses Order Restricting Trump’s Speech About Federal Election Case

2022 Election

Donald Trump

Elections

First Amendment

Jack Smith

Mark Meadows

Politics

The judge presiding over special counsel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jack-smith">Jack Smith</a>&#8216;s 2020 election case reinstated a gag order against former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> on Sunday night.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, lifted her temporary stay after Trump publicly took aim at Mark Meadows, Trump&#8217;s former White House chief of staff who is <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mark-meadows-former-trump-chief-of-staff-cooperating-special-counsel-election-interference-case/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly cooperating</a> with the special counsel.
&#8220;As this court has explained, the First Amendment rights of participants in criminal proceedings must yield, when necessary, to the orderly administration of justice,&#8221; Chutkan <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.124.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, adding later, &#8220;And contrary to Defendant’s argument, the right to a fair trial is not his alone, but belongs also to the government and the public.”
Chutkan issued a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-issues-gag-order-against-trump-in-federal-election-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">narrow gag order</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-releases-details-in-limited-gag-order-against-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">against</a> Trump earlier this month, restricting him from chastising prosecutors, court staff, and potential witnesses. The judge temporarily lifted the gag order at the request of Trump&#8217;s lawyers while they pursued an appeal.
But prosecutors soon <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24085250/show_temp-68.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged</a> her to reinstate the order, saying Trump went back to the sort of &#8220;targeting&#8221; it would prevent. As examples, the filing cited an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/prosecutors-accuse-trump-of-threatening-former-chief-of-staff-mark-meadows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;unmistakable and threatening message&#8221;</a> on social media about Meadows possibly testifying in exchange for immunity against prosecution and comments he made about his former chief of staff <a href="https://twitter.com/EdKrassen/status/1717190712633041168" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to reporters</a> in New York. Trump also called Smith &#8220;deranged.&#8221;
In her new <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.124.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opinion</a>, Chutkan rejected claims by the defendant that her order was &#8220;unconstitutionally vague&#8221; and determined that appeals for &#8220;broad&#8221; First Amendment rights were outweighed by the need to &#8220;protect the integrity&#8221; of the proceedings. Beyond restoring the stay, the judge also denied Trump&#8217;s motion for a long-term stay of the gag order.
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With a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump vowed to appeal while accusing Chutkan of bias and saying the judge should have recused herself from the case. &#8220;How can they tell the leading candidate that he, and only he, is seriously restricted from campaigning in a free and open manner? It will not stand!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111322079015303492" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Trump&#8217;s campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said the judge&#8217;s order amounts to &#8220;election interference.&#8221;
“The American people have the right to hear from President Trump, the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election, and no court or prosecutor can be allowed to commit election interference,&#8221; Cheung said in a Monday statement. &#8220;President Trump is Constitutionally entitled to speak the truth to all Americans as he fights these hoaxes and as he marches on to defeat Crooked Joe Biden and Radical Democrats. The gag order in question is so egregious, that even the ACLU agrees that it has to go. President Trump will never stop fighting for our Democracy and our Constitution.”
Trump is facing four criminal cases, two of which are being spearheaded by Smith: the one in which Trump is accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election and another focused on the former president&#8217;s handling of classified documents. Trump is also contending civil litigation. A judge <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-imposes-gag-order-in-trumps-ny-civil-fraud-trial-after-former-president-posts-about-court-clerk">dealt Trump a gag order</a> in a New York fraud trial, which has already led to two violation fines — the most recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-fines-trump-10000-over-gag-order-violation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">costing $10,000</a>.
Throughout the whirlwind legal battles, Trump has broadly denied wrongdoing, pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces, and claims that politically motivated prosecutors are conducting a &#8220;witch hunt&#8221; against him.
All the while, Trump is running a 2024 campaign, potentially paving the way to a 2020 rematch against President Joe Biden. Trump&#8217;s legal defense effort has sapped up <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/29/us/trump-pac-legal-fees.html">a great deal of resources</a> as well as media attention, but he is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/latest-2024-presidential-polling-trump-rises-above-biden-again">leading GOP polls</a> heading into the primary season.
This piece was updated with comment from the Trump campaign.

Judge Reinstates Gag Order Against Trump In Federal Election Case

2020 Election

Courts

Judge

Special Counsel Jack Smith&#8217;s team accused former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> 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 &#8220;rigged&#8221; and &#8220;stolen&#8221; 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 &#8220;weakling,&#8221; &#8220;coward,&#8221; and &#8220;so bad for the future our Failing Nation&#8221;:
<blockquote>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!!!</blockquote>
Smith&#8217;s team responded to Trump&#8217;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 &#8220;send an unmistakable and threatening message to a foreseeable witness in this case.&#8221;
They said that Trump&#8217;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 &#8220;use external influences to distort the trial in his favor,&#8221; which, &#8220;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.&#8221;
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Trump later claimed on social media that Meadows &#8220;NEVER told me that allegations of significant fraud (about the RIGGED Election!) were baseless. He certainly didn&#8217;t say that in his book!&#8221;
CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge said that Meadows&#8217; attorney, George Terwilliger, had pushed back on ABC News&#8217; 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.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
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…
&mdash; Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBS_Herridge/status/1716940274570604757?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Former President Trump’s Civil Fraud Trial Continues In New York City

Prosecutors Accuse Trump Of Threatening Former Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows

U.S.

Former Trump White House Chief of Staff Meadows asked a federal judge to block prosecutors from arresting him this week in Fulton County on charges listed in ex-President Donald Trump’s sweeping Georgia racketeering indictment.
“Absent this Court’s intervention, Mr. Meadows will be denied the protection from arrest that federal law affords former federal officials,” Meadows’ attorneys <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.gand.319225/gov.uscourts.gand.319225.17.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> to U.S. District Court Judge Steven Jones.
Meadows is one of 18 co-defendants named in Trump’s fourth indictment following a criminal investigation into the former president’s alleged efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pursued charging individuals under Georgia’s RICO Act, which allows prosecutors to connect various crimes committed by multiple defendants and argue that they were working together toward a criminal goal — and were therefore part of a “criminal enterprise.”
“Unfortunately, the state is set on subjecting Mr. Meadows to criminal process in Georgia as quickly as it can and without regard to his pending efforts to remove the case to federal court,” Meadows’s lawyer said in the filing. “In addition to threatening arrest on Friday — in advance of this court’s Monday hearing — the state has also sought a scheduling order that would proceed exceptionally fast for a 19-defendant, 41-count prosecution.”
In the indictment brought against Trump and his allies, Meadows faces charges under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute and for soliciting an official to violate their oath of office.
The indictment alleges that Meadows, Trump, and others “unlawfully solicited, requested, and importuned” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, citing a phone call where the former president reportedly tried to pressure the state official to find 11,780 votes.
Meadows denied any wrongdoing in assisting Trump’s efforts to challenge the election results.
Meadows asked Willis for &#8220;a modest extension of that [Friday at Noon] deadline,&#8221; adding he had hoped to &#8220;be prepared to meet and confer … immediately following the federal court hearing—which is scheduled for less than one business day after the current deadline&#8221; to &#8220;discuss the best path forward based on the outcome of the hearing, including a prompt voluntary surrender in Fulton County, if appropriate.&#8221;
But Willis denied the request on Tuesday morning and “made clear that she would arrest Mr. Meadows before this Court’s hearing if he does not agree to bond terms and voluntarily surrender.”
“I am not granting any extensions. I gave 2 weeks for people to surrender themselves to the court. Your client is no different than any other criminal defendant in this jurisdiction,” Willis said in the letter, according to court filings.
Willis ordered Trump and the co-defendants to surrender at the Fulton County Jail for processing by noon on August 25 and has proposed arraignments for the defendants in the first week of September, with a trial scheduled in March 2024.
Trump, who has broadly denied any wrongdoing and has claimed politically motivated forces are targeting him in a “witch hunt” propagated by the Biden administration and Democrat prosecutors in New York and Georgia, has said he’ll appear in Atlanta on August 24 for booking.
Meadows has explored different legal avenues to avoid surrendering before an Aug. 28 hearing in federal court, including a Supremacy Clause request, which protects federal officials from being arrested and brought to trial in a state court.

us-vote-trump-departure

Former Trump Staffer Mark Meadows Asks Judge To Block Arrest In Georgia Election Case

fulton county

Georgia

Trump Administration

White House

Former Trump White House Chief of Staff <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-meadows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Meadows</a> filed in the Northern District of Georgia to move his charges listed in the ex-president&#8217;s fourth indictment to a federal court, where he reportedly plans to ask a judge to dismiss his case under federal law.
&#8220;Mr. Meadows is entitled to remove this action to federal court because the charges against him plausibly give rise to a federal defense based on his role at all relevant times as the White House Chief of Staff to the President of the United States,&#8221; attorneys for Meadows wrote in the <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.gand.319225/gov.uscourts.gand.319225.1.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">14-page filing</a> on Tuesday.
Meadows is one of 18 co-defendants named in former President Donald Trump&#8217;s Fulton County, Georgia, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-on-fulton-county-charges-i-have-irrefutable-election-fraud-evidence-complete-exoneration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indictment</a> following a criminal investigation into Trump&#8217;s alleged efforts to overturn the state&#8217;s 2020 presidential election results.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pursued charging individuals under Georgia&#8217;s RICO Act, which allows prosecutors to connect various crimes committed by multiple defendants and argue that they were working together toward a criminal goal — and were part of a &#8220;criminal enterprise.&#8221;
In the 41-count indictment brought against Trump and his allies, Meadows faces charges under the state&#8217;s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute and for soliciting an official to violate their oath of office.
The indictment alleges that Meadows, Trump, and others &#8220;unlawfully solicited, requested, and importuned&#8221; Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, citing a phone call where the former president reportedly tried to pressure the state official to find 11,780 votes.
Meadows denied any wrongdoing in assisting Trump&#8217;s efforts to challenge the election results.
&#8220;Nothing Mr. Meadows is alleged in the indictment to have done is criminal per se: arranging Oval Office meetings, contacting state officials on the President&#8217;s behalf, visiting a state government building, and setting up a phone call for the President,&#8221; the filing states. &#8220;One would expect a Chief of Staff to the President of the United States to do these sorts of things.&#8221;
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The filing argues the indictment &#8220;is precisely the kind of state interference in a federal official&#8217;s duties that the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/supremacy_clause" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supremacy Clause</a> of the U.S. Constitution prohibits,&#8221; which the core of the section states the Constitution and federal laws take priority over any conflicting rules of state law.
Attorneys for Meadows also reportedly stated in the filing that while the former chief of staff intends to file a separate motion to dismiss the indictment, the request to move into federal court would delay state court proceedings.
&#8220;Even if the Court is not prepared to dismiss outright at this early stage, however, justice requires granting removal and halting any further state-court proceedings against Mr. Meadows,&#8221; the filing said. &#8220;That will allow for the timely consideration of Mr. Meadows&#8217;s defenses, including his federal defense under the Supremacy Clause, without requiring him to defend himself in state court simultaneously.&#8221;
When the indictment was first revealed Monday, the Trump campaign released a statement slamming Fulton County DA Fani Willis as a “rabid partisan who is campaigning and fundraising on a platform of prosecuting President Trump through these bogus indictments.” Willis, the campaign said, “strategically stalled her investigation to try and maximally interfere with the 2024 presidential race and damage the dominant Trump campaign.”
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this report.

House Members Return To Washington, DC After Midterm Election

Former Trump White House Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows Seeks Removal Of Fulton County Case To Federal Court

Former Trump White House Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows Seeks To Move Fulton County Case To Federal Court

Crime

Election Fraud

Former President Donald Trump and several of his top allies were indicted in Georgia late Monday night by a Fulton County grand jury over their alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said the 19 individuals charged under Georgia&#8217;s RICO Act — which allows prosecutors to connect various crimes committed by multiple defendants and argue that they were working together toward a criminal goal — were part of a &#8220;criminal enterprise.&#8221;
Nineteen individuals were charged in the 41-count <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23909553/read-trump-indictment-in-fulton-county-georgia-probe.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indictment</a>, including Trump, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Ken Chesebro, Jeffrey Clark, Jenna Ellis, Ray Stallings Smith III, Robert Cheeley, Mike Roman, David Shafer, Shawn Micah Tresher Still, Stephen Lee, Harrison Floyd, Trevian Kutti, Sidney Powell, Cathleen Latham, Scott Hall, and Misty Hampton.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/14/us/trump-indictment-georgia-election#trump-indictment-georgia-charges-takeaways" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that the indictment contains what are effectively several &#8220;baskets&#8221; of alleged criminal activity to keep the former president in office and none of the defendants were involved in all of the alleged different schemes, which included: making false claims of election fraud at a legislative hearing in December 2020, trying to install a slate of &#8220;fake&#8221; pro-Trump electors to give Georgia&#8217;s Electoral College votes to Trump, trying to steal and tamper with voter data and election equipment, and trying to harass and intimidate an election worker.
The case can also be broadcast on television so the public will witness all the evidence that is being presented.
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The following defendants have until noon on August 25th to turn themselves in:
Donald Trump — 13 charges:
<ul>
<li>3 counts: Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer</li>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree</li>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>2 counts: False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents</li>
<li>1 count: Filing False Documents</li>
</ul>
Rudy Giuliani, lawyer — 13 charges:
<ul>
<li>3 counts: Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer</li>
<li>3 counts: False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree</li>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents</li>
</ul>
Ray Smith III, lawyer — 12 charges:
<ul>
<li>3 counts: Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer</li>
<li>2 counts: False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree</li>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents</li>
</ul>
Cathy Latham, Alleged Fake Elector — 11 charges:
<ul>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Election Fraud</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Impersonating a Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Forgery in the First Degree</li>
<li>1 count: False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Criminal Attempt to Commit Filing False Documents</li>
<li>1 count:Conspiracy to Commit Computer Theft</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Computer Trespass</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Computer Invasion of Privacy</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Defraud the State</li>
</ul>
Robert Cheeley, lawyer — 10 charges:
<ul>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree</li>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents</li>
<li>1 count: Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Perjury</li>
</ul>
John Eastman, lawyer — 9 charges:
<ul>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree</li>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents</li>
<li>1 count: Filing False Documents</li>
</ul>
David Shafer, Alleged Fake Elector — 8 charges:
<ul>
<li>3 counts: False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>2 counts: Forgery in the First Degree</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Impersonating a Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Criminal Attempt to Commit Filing False Documents</li>
</ul>
Shawn Still, Alleged Fake Elector — 7 charges:
<ul>
<li>2 counts: False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>2 counts: Forgery in the First Degree</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Impersonating a Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Criminal Attempt to Commit Filing False Documents</li>
</ul>
Sidney Powell, lawyer — 7 charges:
<ul>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Election Fraud</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count:Conspiracy to Commit Computer Theft</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Computer Trespass</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Computer Invasion of Privacy</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Defraud the State</li>
</ul>
Kenneth Chesebro, lawyer — 7 charges:
<ul>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree</li>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents</li>
</ul>
Michael Roman, Trump campaign staffer — 7 charges:
<ul>
<li>3 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree</li>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents</li>
</ul>
Misty Hampton, Coffee County elections supervisor — 7 charges:
<ul>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Election Fraud</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count:Conspiracy to Commit Computer Theft</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Computer Trespass</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Computer Invasion of Privacy</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Defraud the State</li>
</ul>
Scott Hall, Bail Bondsman — 7 charges:
<ul>
<li>2 counts: Conspiracy to Commit Election Fraud</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count:Conspiracy to Commit Computer Theft</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Computer Trespass</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Computer Invasion of Privacy</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Defraud the State</li>
</ul>
Stephen Lee, Pastor — 5 charges:
<ul>
<li>2 counts: Criminal Attempt to Commit Influencing Witnesses</li>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Solicitation of False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Influencing Witnesses</li>
</ul>
Trevian Kutti, Publicist — 3 charges:
<ul>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Solicitation of False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Influencing Witnesses</li>
</ul>
Willie Lewis Floyd III, former leader of “Black Voices for Trump” — 3 charges:
<ul>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Conspiracy to Commit Solicitation of False Statements and Writings</li>
<li>1 count: Influencing Witnesses</li>
</ul>
Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff — 2 charges:
<ul>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer</li>
</ul>
Jeffrey Clark, former DOJ official — 2 charges:
<ul>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Criminal Attempt to Commit False Statements and Writings</li>
</ul>
Jenna Ellis, lawyer — 2 charges:
<ul>
<li>1 count: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act</li>
<li>1 count: Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer</li>
</ul>

Georgia Prepares For Next Trump Indictment

Key Takeaways From Trump Being Indicted In Expansive Georgia RICO Case

Indictment

Rudy Giuliani

Sidney Powell

When former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Donald Trump</a> held court over a dinner table with 17 members of his inner circle, a camera was there to capture a rare glimpse of the 45th president&#8217;s unguarded rapport with his braintrust.
“My Dinner with Trump,” a new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Wire+</a> documentary featuring footage shot at Trump&#8217;s Bedminster, N.J., golf club, captures the former president talking with key advisers at a crucial time in his post-presidency. Trump’s penchant for delivering withering assessments of his adversaries is on full display in the 73-minute film, which premieres Thursday.
“They are corrupt people,” Trump says of Democrats. “They’re sick. And they’re corrupt. And we will win. And we have no choice but to win.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/my-dinner-with-trump/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK TO BECOME A DAILY WIRE MEMBER AND WATCH ‘MY DINNER WITH TRUMP’</a>
In other unguarded comments, Trump reveals part of a startling conversation he had with former President Obama about North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, likens current Pentagon Secretary Mark Milley to a bad-weather implement, and marvels at how the scandals of the Left always seem to evade the news cycle.
“If the other side does something bad, really bad, you will never see it, you will never find it,” Trump says. “They erase it, they cancel it, and there’s never been a period of time like that in our country’s history.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="My Dinner with Trump | Official Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/99oTlayKdMI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, top adviser Kellyanne Conway, and Dr. Ben Carson, who served as Trump’s HUD secretary, are among the luminaries at the table.
The high-powered group’s deliberations and candid conversations on the slowing economy, border crisis, foreign policy, the Biden family, and more seem in some cases prophetic. The extraordinary gathering took place in mid-2021, after Trump had been deplatformed by social media giants, continued to face unrelenting scorn from the legacy media, and battled accusations from top Democrats that he sparked the January 6 Capitol riot. The massive effort to silence and marginalize the 45thpresident makes the film’s insight into his mindset all the more compelling.
Carson notes that Trump’s enemies in government teamed up with media outlets to silence Trump, an observation that seems prescient given <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/big-tech-worked-closely-with-the-fbi-and-dhs-to-police-disinformation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fresh reports</a> on how the FBI and other federal agencies worked hand-in-glove with Facebook and Twitter to censor conservatives under the guise of fighting “disinformation.”
“When we talk about liberties and freedom of speech, they think that that can only be taken away by the federal government, but the fact of the matter is, big tech and the media take it away with complicit government, it’s exactly the same effect,” the neurosurgeon says.
Others at the gathering included former White House press secretary and likely next governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders; key economic adviser Larry Kudlow; Trump’s social media director Dan Scavino; former Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf; top policy adviser and speechwriter Stephen Miller; onetime spokesman Jason Miller; retired U.S. Army Three-Star Gen. Keith Kellogg; Trump&#8217;s Florida political consultant Susie Wiles; and senior adviser Kevin Hassett.
The group praises Trump&#8217;s leadership, with key trade adviser Robert Lighthizer telling Trump he is now the standard bearer for working class Americans, Kushner praising his father-in-law’s muscular foreign policy, and Miller noting that Trump’s efforts to secure the Mexican border, now effectively reversed by the Biden administration, stopped drugs, human trafficking, and terrorists in their tracks.
&#8220;When we came into office, it was a disaster,&#8221; Miller says. &#8220;We had…cartels… drugs… child smuggling, we had terrorists coming into our country. What you did in four years… you gave this country the most secure border that it has ever had, and it’s not even close.”

Screen Shot 2022-11-01 at 10.25.53 AM

SEE THE TRAILER: New Documentary ‘My Dinner With Trump’ Puts Viewers At Table With 45’s Braintrust

New Documentary 'My Dinner With Trump' Puts Viewers At Table With 45's Braintrust

Ben Carson

The Daily Wire

Last-minute star witness <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/megyn-kelly-blows-up-cassidy-hutchinson-testimony-a-first-year-law-student-could-have-driven-a-truck-through-the-holes/">Cassidy Hutchinson</a> apparently did not think much of the January 6th committee when she was first called to testify, text messages reportedly revealed.
According to a <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2022/07/03/obtained-text-message-cassidy-hutchinson-called-january-6-committee-bs-before-testifying/">report</a> published Sunday by The Daily Caller — based on text messages sent by Hutchinson — the former aide to then White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows referred to the committee&#8217;s subpoena as &#8220;BS&#8221; and made it clear that she was unimpressed with the fact that U.S. Marshals had come to her apartment to deliver it.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
EXCLUSIVE: Text Messages Show Cassidy Hutchinson Referring To January 6 Committee As ‘BS’ 
The January 6 committee’s key witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, called the committee “bs” in a text message obtained exclusively by the <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyCaller?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DailyCaller</a><a href="https://t.co/zqy6SqZtgV">https://t.co/zqy6SqZtgV</a>
&mdash; Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) <a href="https://twitter.com/henryrodgersdc/status/1543654469224878080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In the text messages, which were obtained by the Caller&#8217;s senior Congressional correspondent Henry Rodgers, Hutchinson appeared to be seeking assistance from the <a href="https://secure.foundation.conservative.org/faf?utm_source=main=web=faf">First Amendment Fund</a> — which was started by the American Conservative Union (ACU) in order to assist private citizens &#8220;who have not been accused of any crimes and were simply engaging in free speech activities&#8221; with regard to January 6th.
&#8220;Hey (redacted)! This is Cassidy Hutchinson. Kind of a random question, but do you still work for the Schlapps at the ACU?&#8221; Hutchinson texted, to which the person replied, &#8220;Hi, yes!&#8221;
&#8220;Do you happen to know a First Amendment fund POC I could reach out to? I was subpoenaed in early Nov., but the committee waited to serve me until last week (after Ben’s deposition),&#8221; Hutchinson continued, adding, &#8220;I had to accept service because the U.S. Marshalls came to my apartment last Wednesday, but I haven’t made contact with the Committee. I’m just on a tight timeline and just trying to figure out what my options are to deal with this bs.&#8221;
Later in the conversation, Hutchinson reportedly said that she did not want the January 6th hearings to be &#8220;unnecessarily elevated.&#8221;
But then Hutchinson testified in the produced and televised hearings — during which she alleged that former President Donald Trump had been so adamant that he follow his supporters to the Capitol that he had tried to take the wheel of the vehicle he was in and had physically assaulted a <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/testimony-of-cassidy-hutchinson-appears-to-fall-apart-as-new-reports-surface-about-secret-service/">Secret Service</a> agent who prevented him from doing so.
Several sources have since <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/secret-service-january-6-committee-didnt-verify-explosive-claim-that-trump-assaulted-an-agent/">denied her claims</a>, and ACU President Matt Schlapp responded to her testimony by saying he was glad the First Amendment Fund had not assisted her.
&#8220;Ms. Hutchinson approached CPAC for help through our First Amendment Fund which has helped J6 political victims defend themselves. I am pleased we did not assist her performance today. Relaying WH hallway gossip as fact does not qualify as first person testimony,&#8221; he tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Ms. Hutchinson approached <a href="https://twitter.com/CPAC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CPAC</a> for help through our First Amendment Fund which has helped J6 political victims defend themselves. I am pleased we did not assist her performance today. Relaying WH hallway gossip as fact does not qualify as first person testimony. <a href="https://t.co/nfQbPshIju">https://t.co/nfQbPshIju</a>
&mdash; Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) <a href="https://twitter.com/mschlapp/status/1541944663891902464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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January 6th Committee Holds Surprise Hearing During Congressional Break

Text Messages Reveal What Cassidy Hutchinson Really Thought Of The January 6th Committee: Report

Text Messages Reveal Cassidy Hutchinson Referred To January 6th Committee As 'BS': Report

January 6

January 6 Committee

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/january-6-committee">January 6 Committee</a> unveiled its surprise star witness on Tuesday — Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to then-<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/white-house">White House</a> Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — yet committee member Rep. Jaime Raskin (D-MD) admitted that her testimony was only hearsay.
Hutchinson testified before the committee that Secret Service agent Anthony Ornato told her that on January 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limo &#8220;The Beast&#8221; and commandeer the vehicle to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/capitol-hill">U.S. Capitol</a> to join protesters upset about the 2020 presidential election results. She added that the president was rebuffed by the head of Trump&#8217;s Secret Service detail, Robert Engel, who grabbed the president&#8217;s wrist. She then claimed that Ornato told her that Trump reached for Engel&#8217;s clavicle with his free hand.
While told vividly, the story seemed to lack any hard evidence and was only a second-hand account. CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper pressed Raskin on that point Tuesday evening and asked for any subsequent corroboration from previous testimony.
&#8220;She did not see it happen,&#8221; Tapper said to Raskin Tuesday evening. &#8220;Do you have any corroborating evidence? You have interviewed both Ornato, or the committee has interviewed both Engle and Ornato, two Secret Service agents. Do you have any corroborating evidence that that story is true or do you only have it from Cassidy Hutchinson?&#8221;
Raskin could not provide any solid proof besides implying that it sounded true.
&#8220;Well, um, the story that she told is the evidence that I&#8217;m aware of, at least within her story, and I&#8217;ve not seen anything to contradict it,&#8221; Raskin answered. &#8220;And then, of course, it&#8217;s corroborated by everything else we know about Donald Trump&#8217;s eagerness to not just incite this march and assemble the march and form the march and exhort the people in the march but also to participate in it, he wanted to go into it.&#8221;
Raskin then recounted how Hutchinson testified that White House counsel told her not to let Trump enter the rally at the Capitol for various legal and safety reasons.
Tapper pressed forward, asking again if Raskin had any evidence.
&#8220;What I&#8217;m saying is, your committee interviewed Tony Ornato and [Robert] Engel, who supposedly told her this story, and I don&#8217;t doubt her. I&#8217;m sure Ornato told her the story but your committee interviewed them. Did you ask about this story?&#8221; Tapper asked. &#8220;It is a shocking story.&#8221;
&#8220;I was not involved in either of those interviews. So I can&#8217;t say and I don&#8217;t have any knowledge of that. I will just say I&#8217;m not aware of anything that contradicts the account,&#8221; Raskin responded.
Raskin added that he would encourage any other material witness to come forward with information that could prove or disprove Hutchinson&#8217;s testimony.
Tapper again lamented the fact that there was no actual evidence of her claims.
&#8220;It is just an incredibly damning and dramatic story. I would just, as a journalist and as an American, appreciate more corroboration for the story, since as of now, it is hearsay,&#8221; Tapper said before Raskin interjected, &#8220;Oh, sure.&#8221;
&#8220;And of course, we&#8217;re not in a court of law and we&#8217;re not charging anybody with any particular offense,&#8221; Raskin continued. &#8220;Our job under House Resolution 503 is to assemble the most meticulous and comprehensive account of the details of that day that we can as well as the causes of these events, as well as making recommendations as to how to fortify democratic institutions against coups, and insurrections and political violence or attacks on our election. So that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re working on.&#8221;
Raskin added that Hutchinson&#8217;s account is just &#8220;one detail out of many details&#8221; while claiming that he was &#8220;not aware of a single fact that the committee has put forward that has been contradicted or debunked by anybody, but that&#8217;s not to say it couldn&#8217;t happen.&#8221;
The interview can be seen here:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
CNN’s <a href="https://twitter.com/jaketapper?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jaketapper</a> asks <a href="https://twitter.com/RepRaskin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepRaskin</a> about corroborating the shocking story, told by ex-aide of Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, about Trump’s physical attack on Secret Service detail to drive to the US Capitol on January 6. <a href="https://t.co/z2ul9WvFcc">pic.twitter.com/z2ul9WvFcc</a>
&mdash; CNN (@CNN) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1541894982780469248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Cassidy Hutchinson

January 6 Committee Member Admits Star Witness’ Evidence Is Hearsay, No Corroborating Evidence

January 6 Committee Member Jamie Raskin Admits Cassidy Hutchinson's Evidence Is Hearsay And Lacking Corroborating Evidence

Capitol Riot

Jake Tapper

Jamie Raskin

Secret Service

MSNBC host <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/get-out-in-front-of-something-for-once-joe-scarborough-scolds-joe-manchin-for-inaction-on-gun-control/">Joe Scarborough</a> issued a stark warning to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Wednesday, claiming that if he did not flip on former President Donald Trump, he would have no choice but to find himself &#8220;a really, really good criminal defense attorney.&#8221;
Scarborough was responding to the testimony from Tuesday&#8217;s surprise witness — Meadows aide <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/testimony-of-cassidy-hutchinson-appears-to-fall-apart-as-new-reports-surface-about-secret-service/">Cassidy Hutchinson</a> — who appeared before the January 6th Committee and claimed that Trump had attempted to get to the Capitol after the crowd marched in that direction. She then alleged that he had gotten combative with Secret Service agents — a point that was contested by the Secret Service — when they prevented him from doing so.
And Scarborough argued on Wednesday that Hutchinson&#8217;s testimony also damaged Meadows — particularly if he continued to defend his former boss.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;He will throw you under the bus. He will stab you in the back. He will let you rot in jail. Defend the country. Or, well, get ready to pay a criminal defense attorney a lot of money,&quot; Joe Scarborough warns Mark Meadows. <a href="https://t.co/8uiPUOed7F">pic.twitter.com/8uiPUOed7F</a>
&mdash; Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) <a href="https://twitter.com/VAKruta/status/1542180859297546240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Scarborough gave a &#8220;Howard Cosell&#8221; description of how he saw the situation playing out based on the testimony that had been presented thus far.
&#8220;The play-by-play is Donald Trump knew there were heavily armed rioters that were moving towards his speech. He wanted Secret Service to take down the mags, let them in, and then Donald Trump volunteers and then they can go straight to the Capitol. Wanting them to go to the Capitol and not have their weapons taken away,&#8221; Scarborough explained, citing claims that Trump had asked Secret Service not to prevent armed supporters from attending his speech and suggesting that the president&#8217;s intent was to ensure that they were still armed when they marched to the Capitol.
&#8220;He wanted to go there with them. They talked about going to the House of Representatives, with this mob, and Donald Trump strutting in like a Benito Mussolini declaring himself the next President of the United States,&#8221; he continued, before turning to address Meadows directly.
&#8220;Mark Meadows, hey, Mark, I’ve known you for a long time, buddy, you’re in deep sh*t,&#8221; Scarborough said. &#8220;You’re in the middle of this conspiracy. You may want to get yourself a really, really good defense attorney &#8230; Oh, wait, here’s an idea, Mark. You can do something that you’ve refused to do for years now. You can show courage and you can tell the truth. Hey. Mark. Donald Trump won’t protect you. He will throw you under the bus. He will stab you in the back. He will let you rot in jail. Defend the country. Or, well, get ready to pay a criminal defense attorney a lot of money.&#8221;

The 2018 New Yorker Festival – MSNBC Hosts Joe Scarborough And Mika Brzezinski In Conversation With The New Yorker’s David Remni

‘Get Yourself A Really, Really Good Criminal Defense Attorney’: Joe Scarborough Warns Mark Meadows He’s In ‘Deep Sh**’

Joe Scarborough Warns Mark Meadows To Flip On Trump Or Get A Good Lawyer

Joe Scarborough

The House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot voted Monday to hold Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, in contempt for refusing to turn over communications he claims are protected by executive privilege.
January 6 committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger III, exchanged letters on Monday over dueling claims of the extent of executive privilege and accusations of bad faith and procedural violations. At the center of the battle are communications and other data held on Meadows’ personal cell phones and emails.
“Over the last several weeks, Mr. Meadows has consistently sought in good faith to pursue an accommodation with the Select Committee and up until yesterday we believed that could be obtained. We acted on the belief that the Select Committee would receive, also in good faith, relevant, responsive but non-privileged facts,” Terwilliger wrote in a Monday <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017d-b444-d3d7-a37d-bede61490000">letter</a>.
The committee recommended on Monday that Meadows be held in contempt for violating a congressional subpoena and refusing a summons for a deposition in front of the committee. The recommendation will move to a House vote and, if passed, given to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution.
Meadows has withheld a number of texts and messages stored on two personal cell phones and two personal email accounts. The former Trump official has turned over some information from those sources to the committee, but Meadows’ attorney has claimed that turning over every message asked for in the subpoena would violate executive privilege and result in a massive breach of Meadows’ privacy.
“[W]e learned over the weekend that the Select Committee had, without even the basic courtesy of notice to us, issued wide ranging subpoenas for information from a third party communications provider without regard to either the broad breadth of the information sought,” Terwilliger said, referring to a committee subpoena to Verizon for Meadows’ phone records.
A complete response to the subpoena “would include intensely personal communications of no moment to any legitimate matters of interest to the Select Committee, nor to the potentially privileged status of the information demanded,” Meadows’ attorney said.
Thompson <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IJ/IJ00/20211213/114313/HMTG-117-IJ00-20211213-SD012.pdf">responded</a> to Terwilliger later Monday pushing Meadows to identify which topics the former Trump official considers protected. Thompson claimed that the purpose of a deposition Meadows was scheduled to participate in – and which Meadows pulled out of after the committee’s subpoena for his personal phone records – was in part to give the committee a better idea of what Meadows was claiming to be privileged.
The committee chairman also said that Meadows denials raise questions whether the former White House chief of staff violated the Presidential Records Act by failing to turn over materials to the National Archives for the official records of Trump’s presidency.
“There is no legitimate legal basis for Mr. Meadows to refuse to cooperate with the Select Committee and answer questions about the documents he produced, the personal devices and accounts he used, the events he wrote about in his newly released book, and, among other things, his other public statements,” Thompson said. “The Select Committee is left with no choice but to advance contempt proceedings and recommend that the body in which Mr. Meadows once served refer him for criminal prosecution.”

January 6 Committee, Ex-Trump Chief Of Staff Battle Over Personal Communications

Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump&#8217;s chief of staff, responded to the Democratic-led House select committee investigating the January 6 riot that referred him to the Department of Justice for prosecution for alleged criminal contempt on Monday by suggesting that the referral was not legitimate.
NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/12/13/1063652510/mark-meadows-contempt-vote-jan-6-committee-house">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Meadows had initially cooperated with the panel and turned over thousands of emails and text messages, but he reversed course last week, saying a day before he was due to appear for a deposition that he would no longer be cooperating with the probe.</blockquote>
Meadows appeared on Fox News with host Sean Hannity to push back on the criminal referral, saying that it was &#8220;disappointing, but not surprising.&#8221;
Meadows said that the referral was not about him or making the Capital safer and that it was about &#8220;Donald Trump and about actually going after him once again, continuing to go after Donald Trump.&#8221;
&#8220;And when we look at the real results of this investigation, it is not really &#8212; the foundation is not based on a legislative purpose,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Listen, they want to talk about the part that fits their narrative and what we do know in one of the things that is coming out more and more clearly each and every day is is that everyone condemned what happened in terms of the breach of security on the Capitol on January 6th.&#8221;
&#8220;I can say this: that when you look at the criminal component of this, the intent, there&#8217;s never been an intent on my part,&#8221; Meadows said. &#8220;I’ve tried to share non-privileged information. &#8220;But truly, the executive privilege that Donald Trump has claimed is his to waive. It’s not mine to waive. It’s not Congress’s to waive. And that&#8217;s why we filed the lawsuit to hopefully get the courts to weigh in. Hopefully, they’ll weigh in.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Mark Meadows responds to Jan 6 Committee criminal referral" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fiLvtc2MBdg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: All right. Also tonight, more antics from the Democrat sham January 6 Committee. We&#8217;ve been telling you, this is a waste of your time and money. They have a predetermined outcome and, by the way, it lacks any serious investigation.
And breaking tonight, the committee voted to send a criminal contempt of Congress resolution to the House for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows for failing to comply with a sham subpoena, documents he says are protected by executive privilege. That would need to be played out in the courts.
We are now learning about an email from the former chief of staff that said the National Guard was on standby to protect, quote, pro-Trump people, and don’t forget, President Trump requested increased National Guard support in the days leading up to the &#8212; to January 6.
The request was rejected, by Pelosi, by congressional leaders, including request, by the way, from the Capitol police chief.
Here with reaction, author of &#8212; it’s in bookstores everywhere, Amazon.com, Hannity.com. I read the book cover to cover, it’s worth &#8212; you&#8217;ve got to get a copy. It&#8217;s an insider’s view that actually is fair to Donald Trump, what a rarity. &#8220;The Chief’s Chief&#8221;, Mark Meadows.
First, I guess I’ll get your reaction to the January 6 vote 9-0 that will now go before the House. But we already know this is a predetermined outcome. Didn&#8217;t we learn that when they kicked Jim Jordan and Jim Banks off the committee?
MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, we did. Obviously, it&#8217;s disappointing, but not surprising. And let&#8217;s be clear about this, Sean, this is not about me &#8212; holding me in contempt. It&#8217;s not even about making the Capital safer. We see that by some of the selective leaks that are going on right now.
This is about Donald Trump and about actually going after him once again continuing to go after Donald Trump. And when we look at the real results of this investigation, it is not really &#8212; the foundation is not based on a legislative purpose.
HANNITY: You know, I’m looking at the interpretation of this biased committee, Liz Cheney and company. I love how Liz has now partnered with the people that called her father a war criminal, a murderer and a crook &#8212; pretty amazing.
And I’m looking at this committee and they’re acting as though somehow, it’s nefarious. You have massive crowds coming to Washington. We just came out of the summer of 2020. Now, they’re not investigating the 500 riots that killed dozens of Americans, hurt thousands of cops, caused billions in property damage, Liz Cheney and company have no interest in those riots. I condemn them all equally on this program.
But what I want to know is, you know, as if it&#8217;s a bad thing after coming out of the summer of 2020 saying, okay, there might be troublemakers here. We need to protect the Capitol.
You asked for it before the rally on January 6. The president asked for it. The Capitol police chief asked for it. And we now have reports of whistle-blowers telling us as National Guard members, they were told to stand down when they wanted to go in and stop the trouble.
I don&#8217;t hear them talking about that part.
MEADOWS: Yeah, I &#8212; well, listen, they want to talk about the part that fits their narrative and what we do know in one of the things that is coming out more and more clearly each and every day is is that everyone condemned what happened in terms of the breach of security on the Capitol on January 6th.
But what we also know is that President Trump wanted to make sure that the people that came, that there was a safe environment for that &#8212; that kind of assembly. And I’ve said that publicly before, the 10,000 National Guard troops that he wanted to make sure that everything was safe and secure.
And yet, the way that some of the Democrats are spinning this, trying to spin some nefarious purpose I think at the end of the day, they’re going &#8212; they’re going to find that not only did the president act, but he acted quickly. And in doing all of that, it&#8217;s important, you know, with this contempt vote that’s coming out tomorrow, there’s a high &#8212; very high probability that they will refer me for criminal contempt to DOJ.
But there’s &#8212; you know, this &#8212;
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: What will you do? What will you do, Cong &#8212; what will you do, Congressman?
MEADOWS: Well, I mean, at this point &#8212; at this point, Sean, you know, it will be turned over to the hands of DOJ. I can say this: that when you look at the criminal component of this, the intent, there&#8217;s never been an intent on my part. I’ve tried to share non-privileged information.
But truly, the executive privilege that Donald Trump has claimed is his to waive. It’s not mine to waive. It’s not Congress’s to waive.
And that&#8217;s why we filed the lawsuit to hopefully get the courts to weigh in. Hopefully, they’ll weigh in.
HANNITY: Well, before they did this to Steve Bannon, the last time they had done this &#8212; hold somebody in contempt of Congress &#8212; was 1983. President &#8212; I notice they haven&#8217;t been focused on President Trump&#8217;s actual words at the rally that day.
Many of you will now peacefully and patriotically march the capital so your voices may be heard.
I didn&#8217;t hear it in any of that, Congressman, many of you will march peacefully, and &#8212; not peacefully and not patriotically and invade the Capital.
Now, the fact that they are ignoring your request, they’re ignoring the president’s request, they’re ignoring the Capitol police chief&#8217;s request earlier for support from the National Guard, which is especially after the summer of 2020, that’s just good common sense. That’s smart policing. That’s for the protection of everybody.
MEADOWS: Well &#8212; you’re exactly right. And, obviously &#8212; obviously, having those National Guards available &#8212; actually, the reason they were able to respond when they did was because President Trump had actually put them on alert.
But I would also want to comment on one other thing. If we look at senior officials, chiefs of staff and those senior to the president of the United States, compelling them to come in and testify and what we’re seeing now, there&#8217;s lots of jurisprudence and at least legal opinions and law that would suggest that that&#8217;s not something that should be in the purview of Congress.
So, hopefully, the courts will weigh in.
HANNITY: Well, I’ve got a question. You know, I said that day and I’ve said it now and &#8212; and I mean it, we are a country of law and order. We have to be.
Now, with that said, I want to get to the bottom of it. I want to know why the Guard was told to stand down, one. I want to know why your request, why President Trump&#8217;s request for the Guard knowing what happened in the summer of 2020 was denied.
And I would like an answer to why we had 500 riots in the summer of 2020, dozens of Americans dead, thousands of cops injured, billions of dollars of property damage, arson and looting. Where&#8217;s that committee, Congressman? I&#8217;d like to see that committee.
MEADOWS: Well &#8212; yeah, that committee is not there and, obviously, there’s a political narrative that really focuses on Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States and sadly, when we look at what is to be accomplished, I’m not sure that this committee is set up to do that.
HANNITY: All right. We appreciate it and thanks for being with us. We’re going to watch this very closely.
And coming up, Biden&#8217;s failed policies have created a labor shortage and stores are beginning to reduce their hours as a result. &#8220;Dirty Jobs&#8221; host, our friend Mike Rowe, is next, as we continue.</blockquote>

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