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Post by Admin on Dec 1, 2021 19:18:46 GMT
President Joe Biden, at the end of a speech about the supply chain issues, was asked about a new revelation from former President Donald Trump advisor Mark Meadows, who claims in a new book that Trump tested positive for COVID-19 just 3 days before the first presidential debate with Biden. When asked about the new information, President Biden said he "doesn't think about" the former president. Trump has reportedly denied the claims from Meadows. Trump positive for COVID 3 days before Biden debate, Meadows claims | LiveNOW from FOX The Democratic-led House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has reached a new agreement with former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for him to appear for an initial deposition, and the panel says he is cooperating by providing documents. The committee and Meadows' attorney, George Terwilliger, said on Tuesday that both sides had reached the agreement that included the appearance and the turning over of records. However, the committee warned that it is still weighing taking additional steps against Meadows depending on how cooperative he is with his testimony. "Mr. Meadows has been engaging with the Select Committee through his attorney. He has produced records to the committee and will soon appear for an initial deposition," Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the committee, said in a statement. "The Select Committee expects all witnesses, including Mr. Meadows, to provide all information requested and that the Select Committee is lawfully entitled to receive. The committee will continue to assess his e of compliance with our subpoena after the deposition." A source familiar with the committee's proceedings told NPR that Meadows is expected to testify sometime next week.
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Post by Admin on Dec 11, 2021 4:00:21 GMT
Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows turned over to the House select committee investigating the 6 January Capitol attack a PowerPoint recommending Donald Trump to declare a national security emergency in order to return himself to the presidency.
The fact that Meadows was in possession of a PowerPoint the day before the Capitol attack that detailed ways to stage a coup suggests he was at least aware of efforts by Trump and his allies to stop Joe Biden’s certification from taking place on 6 January.
The PowerPoint, titled “Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 Jan”, made several recommendations for Trump to pursue in order to retain the presidency for a second term on the basis of lies and debunked conspiracies about widespread election fraud.
Meadows turned over a version of the PowerPoint presentation that he received in an email and spanned 38 pages, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The Guardian reviewed a second, 36-page version of the PowerPoint marked for dissemination with 5 January metadata, which had some differences with what the select committee received. But the title of the PowerPoint and its recommendations remained the same, the source said.
Senators and members of Congress should first be briefed about foreign interference, the PowerPoint said, at which point Trump could declare a national emergency, declare all electronic voting invalid, and ask Congress to agree on a constitutionally acceptable remedy.
The PowerPoint also outlined three options for then vice-president Mike Pence to abuse his largely ceremonial role at the joint session of Congress on 6 January, when Biden was to be certified president, and unilaterally return Trump to the White House.
Pence could pursue one of three options, the PowerPoint said: seat Trump slates of electors over the objections of Democrats in key states, reject the Biden slates of electors, or delay the certification to allow for a “vetting” and counting of only “legal paper ballots”.
The final option for Pence is similar to an option that was simultaneously being advanced on 4 and 5 January by Trump lieutenants – led by lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, as well as Trump strategist Steve Bannon – working from the Willard hotel in Washington DC.
The Guardian revealed last week that sometime between the late evening of 5 January and the early hours of 6 January, after Pence declined to go ahead with such plans, Trump then pressed his lieutenants about how to stop Biden’s certification from taking place entirely.
The recommendations in the PowerPoint for both Trump and Pence were based on wild and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, including that “the Chinese systematically gained control over our election system” in eight key battleground states.
The then acting attorney general, Jeff Rosen, and his predecessor, Bill Barr, who had both been appointed by Trump, by 5 January had already determined that there was no evidence of voter fraud sufficient to change the outcome of the 2020 election.
House investigators said that they became aware of the PowerPoint after it surfaced in more than 6,000 documents Meadows turned over to the select committee. The PowerPoint was to be presented “on the Hill”, a reference to Congress, the panel said.
The powerpoint was presented on 4 January to a number of Republican senators and members of Congress, the source said. Trump’s lawyers working at the Willard hotel were not shown the presentation, according to a source familiar with the matter.
But the select committee said they did find in the materials turned over by Meadows, his text messages with a member of Congress, who told Meadows about a “highly controversial” plan to send slates of electors for Trump to the joint session of Congress.
Meadows replied: “I love it.”
Trump’s former White House chief of staff had turned over the materials to the select committee until the cooperation deal broke down on Tuesday, when Meadows’ attorney, Terwilliger, abruptly told House investigators that Meadows would no longer help the investigation.
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Post by Admin on Dec 13, 2021 21:06:04 GMT
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent an email saying the National Guard would be present to 'protect pro Trump people' in the lead up to the US Capitol insurrection, according to a new report released by the January 6 committee Sunday night.
It was just one of several new details in the report about Meadows' actions before and during January 6, as well as his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election. The report is a key component for the committee to send a referral for charges of criminal contempt of Congress to the Justice Department. The panel informed Meadows last week that it had "no choice" but to advance criminal contempt proceedings against him given that he had decided to no longer cooperate with their investigation. The panel will meet Monday to formally advance the report to the full floor House vote as soon as later this week. The vote by the full House is the last step before sending the referral to the DOJ.
The report is a key component for the committee to send a referral for charges of criminal contempt of Congress to the Justice Department. The panel will meet Monday to formally advance the report to the full floor House vote as soon as later this week. The vote by the full House is the last step before sending the referral to the DOJ.
Meadows' lawyer asked the panel Monday to reconsider its plans. In a letter to the committee, Meadows' attorney George Terwilliger III said the "contemplated referral would be contrary to law" because his client is a senior official who made a "good-faith invocation of executive privilege and testimonial immunity."
"A referral of a senior presidential aide would also be unwise because it would do great damage to the institution of the Presidency, as restraint in the application of the statute over time attests," Terwilliger wrote.
Terwilliger said that Meadows' choice to decline a deposition is an attempt to comply with his "legal obligations" as a former Trump adviser. "History and the law teach that this attempt is not a crime," Terwilliger wrote.
Terwilliger also suggests the committee should allow the civil lawsuit Meadows filed against the committee to play out before moving to contempt -- because a ruling in that case would resolve the questions surrounding privilege that are in dispute.
The committee notes that in one email Meadows sent to an individual about January 6, he said that "the National Guard would be present to 'protect pro Trump people' and that many more would be available on standby," according to the report. The new documents come as Meadows' role is under renewed scrutiny following his decision to cease cooperating with the committee last week.
Committee chairman Bennie Thompson appeared to allude to this January 5 email about having the National Guard on standby in a letter to Meadows' attorney last week informing him that the panel would move forward with contempt proceedings. Thompson also referred to a November 7, 2020, email discussing the appointment of alternate slates of electors as part of a "direct and collateral attack" and a January 5 email that had a 38-page PowerPoint briefing titled "Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 JAN" to be provided "on the hill."
Meadows, according to the report, "received text messages and emails regarding apparent efforts to encourage Republican legislators in certain States to send alternate slates of electors to Congress, a plan which one Member of Congress acknowledged was 'highly controversial' and to which Mr. Meadows responded, 'I love it.'"
"Mr. Meadows responded to a similar message by saying '[w]e are' and another such message by saying 'Yes. Have a team on it,'" the report said.
Additionally, the committee notes that Meadows "exchanged text messages with, and provided guidance to, an organizer of the January 6th rally on the Ellipse after the organizer told him that '[t]hings have gotten crazy and I desperately need some direction.'"
If Meadows was still cooperating, the committee also said it would inquire about a text exchange with a media personality "who had encouraged the presidential statement asking people to, quote, 'peacefully leave the Capitol,'" as well as a text sent "to one of— by one of the President's family members indicating that Mr. Meadows is, quote, 'pushing hard,' end quote, for a statement from President Trump to, quote, 'condemn this shit,' end quote, happening at the Capitol."
The committee has previously sought communications between Meadows and certain rally organizers as the panel remains focused on identifying any level of coordination with the Trump White House. The report goes on to note that Meadows was directly involved in efforts to overturn the election results in key swing states Trump lost and helped push unfounded claims about voter fraud. "Mr. Meadows participated in meetings and calls during which the participants reportedly discussed the need to ''fight'' back against ''mounting evidence'' of purported voter fraud after courts had considered and overwhelmingly rejected Trump campaign claims of voter fraud and other election irregularities," it says.
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Post by Admin on Dec 14, 2021 0:10:42 GMT
LIVE: Jan. 6 Committee Considers Recommending Mark Meadows for Contempt of Congress | NBC News 1,103 watching now • Started streaming 6 minutes ago • Watch live coverage as the January 6 select committee holds a meeting to consider recommending Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to former President Trump, for contempt of Congress. This comes after he refused to further cooperate with their investigation into the Capitol riot.
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Post by Admin on Dec 14, 2021 18:37:28 GMT
WATCH LIVE: House votes on holding former Trump staffer Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress
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