detailed Thursday<\/a> by the Guardian, Meadows says Trump told him he was \u201cspeaking metaphorically\u201d when he told supporters on Jan. 6 that he planned to march with them to the Capitol. Meadows writes that Trump \u201cknew as well as anyone that we couldn\u2019t organize a trip like that on such short notice.\u201d<\/p>\nSome of the 700 Jan. 6 defendants have cited Trump\u2019s promise to go with them to the Capitol as a reason they decided to go themselves. They joined a mob that ultimately overran police lines and breached the Capitol, injuring more than 140 officers and sending members of Congress fleeing for safety. <\/p>\n
The select committee’s chair indicated some of their questioning next week would relate to the book. <\/p>\n
“I’ve seen excerpts from it. Some of what we plan to ask him is in the excerpts of the book,” Thompson told reporters Thursday.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers on the panel say Meadows\u2019 decision to describe these interactions in his book could make it more difficult for him to refuse to discuss them in a congressional interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t assert a privilege that you have waived by virtue of your other actions,\u201d said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) <\/p>\n
Asked about Meadows\u2019 book describing Trump\u2019s actions leading up to Jan. 6, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said, \u201cIf he did that, it\u2019s a waiver legally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson said the book might weaken Meadows’ privilege claims, but it was ultimately up to him on how to respond to questions \u2014\u00a0or assert his Fifth Amendment rights. <\/p>\n
“I think, obviously, anything in our group’s opinion, is germane, but that’s his prerogative to try to assert executive privilege or whatever,” Thompson said when asked whether the book was relevant to Meadows’ claims of privilege. <\/p>\n
Whether Trump, as a former president, can seek to block his fromer aides from testifying at all is a dubious prospect, one that has found little cover in federal court. A district court judge recently rejected the notion that Trump could assert executive privilege to shield his former administration\u2019s records from the Jan. 6 committee, emphasizing that the power to assert privilege belongs to the sitting president with rare, if any, exceptions. Trump has appealed that case and met a relatively icy reception from a three-judge appellate panel.<\/p>\n
But even if Trump had authority to assert privilege, some legal experts say Meadows\u2019 discussion of private interactions with Trump would likely weaken that claim.<\/p>\n
\u201cExecutive privilege covers information vital to the national interest to protect, as well as the privacy of some internal White House deliberations. If the same information is made public, there can be no valid claim to a right to withhold it from Congress,\u201d said Mark Rozell, a George Mason University professor and expert on executive privilege. \u201cIt is hard to imagine a stronger measure of contempt for Congress’ authority than to refuse to cooperate with an investigation but being willing to present the requested information in the public domain to sell books.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heidi Kitrosser, a law professor from the University of Minnesota, said Meadow\u2019s book \u201cenhances the need for Congress to get the full story,\u201d rather than just the details the Trump ally chose to put in a book. Rozell and Kitrosser have both signed legal briefs opposing Trump\u2019s effort to shield his records from the Jan. 6 committee.<\/p>\n
But Tim Flanigan, former White House deputy counsel to George W. Bush, said it\u2019s a mistake to suggest that Meadows\u2019 discussion of Trump in his book would permit him to reveal them to Congress if Trump continues to assert privilege. Rather, he said, a former president like Trump retains the authority to assert privilege \u2014 even if one of his allies discloses details meant to be confidential. Though principles like attorney-client privilege can be waived by inadvertent disclosures, Flanigan says executive privilege isn\u2019t the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe executive privilege is viewed differently because of the nature of the President’s role, because of the need for other candor in the deliberations of the executive branch,\u201d Flanigan said.<\/p>\n
Meadows\u2019 testimony is not the only legal conundrum facing the committee. At 10 a.m. Saturday, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark \u2014 a key ally in Trump\u2019s effort to overturn the 2020 election \u2014 will return for a second deposition in person, at which he\u2019s expected to assert his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. Panel members say they\u2019ll determine whether they consider that assertion valid in deciding whether to ultimately hold Clark in contempt of Congress. The committee unanimously voted to hold Clark in contempt Wednesday night, but the measure would have to go through the full House before being referred to the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n
Over 250 witnesses have come before the committee, its members have said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump appointees and administration officials to election officials in Arizona, in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, people who organized efforts to bring people to Washington on behalf of Stop the Steal, the campaign, the whole bit,\u201d Thompson told reporters.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers said that regardless of how the Clark deposition plays out, his acknowledgement that some of his actions could potentially cross the line into criminality is a breakthrough for their investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat he would be worried he\u2019s committed a crime, which is what the Fifth Amendment is, is interesting, isn\u2019t it,\u201d said Lofgren. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think about that,\u201d said committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), \u201cin the context of the questions we’re asking \u2014 which have to do with his discussions with President Trump about the election \u2014 and if he feels that he can’t answer those questions about discussions with Donald Trump because he’s worried that he could be facing criminal prosecution, the American people deserve to know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Source: Politics Jan. 6 investigators have tried to pry information from Mark Meadows for months. Now, excerpts from his forthcoming book have piqued the select committee’s interest. In interviews, members… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":28618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28617"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}