Coup Plotter Co-Conspirator Mark Meadows Testified To Special Counsel’s Criminal Grand Jury

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Coup Plotter co-conspirator, Mark Meadows, Trump’s Chief of Staff at the time of plotting his coup, who was the “gatekeeper” for the several coup plotter teams assembled by Trump, lost his bid to avoid testifying to the criminal grand jury back in March. Meadows, other top Trump aides ordered to testify in Jan. 6 probe as judge rejects claims of executive privilege:

A federal judge has rejected former President Donald Trump’s claims of executive privilege and has ordered Mark Meadows and other former top aides to testify before a federal grand jury investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the election leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.

Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, was subpoenaed along with the other former aides by Special counsel Jack Smith for testimony and documents related to the probe.

In a sealed order last week, Judge Beryl Howell rejected Trump’s claim of executive privilege for Meadows and a number of others, including Trump’s former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, his former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, former top aide Stephen Miller, and former deputy chief of staff and social media director Dan Scavino, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Former Trump aides Nick Luna and John McEntee, along with former top DHS official Ken Cuccinelli, were also included in the order, the sources said.

[S]ome of the aides that have been ordered to testify have already appeared before the grand jury but did not answer some questions related to interactions with the former president, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News, and thus would now be required to return for additional testimony. The grand jury proceedings are being held under seal.

There is no doubt in my mind that Mark Meadows was a target of the special counsel’s investigation as much as his boss, Donald Trump. As a central figure in the seditious conspiracy for January 6, Meadows has coextensive exposure to criminal culpability as Donald Trump.

If Meadows did not assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and testified fully and truthfully to the criminal grand jury as to all matters, then there are only two possibilities: (1) he has plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a “cooperative witness” agreement, or (2) Special Counsel jack Smith has given him immunity to get his testimony.

The latter would be a travesty of justice. At no time did Mark Meadows take any steps to prevent the seditious insurrection on January 6 by going to law enforcement or members of Congress. He was a critical figure in the seditious conspiracy. He needs to be held accountable and go to prison for his role in the seditious conspiracy.

Between the court’s ruling in March and this week, Mark Meadows had disappeared from public view. Trump World had no idea what he was doing or to whom he was talking. Out of the spotlight, Mark Meadows wields quiet political power amid Trump legal woes (excerpt):

Meadows is viewed as a critical first-hand witness to the investigations of both special counsel Jack Smith and Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. He’s been ordered to testify before the grand jury in both investigations, and to provide documents to the special counsel after a judge rejected Trump’s claims of executive privilege.

The special counsel’s criminal investigation into January 6 and Trump’s mishandling of classified documentsappear to be barreling toward a conclusion. There’s been a flurry of grand jury activity, as anticipation builds for any sign that Meadows is cooperating.

It is unclear whether Meadows has responded to the special counsel’s requests or appeared in front of that grand jury in Washington. In front of the grand jury in Georgia, Meadows declined to answer questions, one of the grand jurors revealed in February.

[A] source close to Trump’s legal team said Trump’s lawyers have had no contact with Meadows and his team and are in the dark on what Meadows is doing in the investigation, fueling speculation about whether Meadows is cooperating with the special counsel’s probe – or if Meadows himself is a target of the investigation.

The silence from Meadows has irked lawyers representing other defendants aligned with Trump who have been more open, according to several sources familiar with the Trump-aligned legal teams. In particular, they point to a $900,000 payment Trump’s Save America political action committee paid to the firm representing Meadows, McGuireWoods, at the end of last year.

“We’ve all heard the same rumors,” one Trump adviser told CNN. “No one really knows what he’s doing though.”

We now know that Mark Meadows has testified to the Special Counsel’s criminal grand jury. The New York Times reports, Mark Meadows Testified to Grand Jury in Special Counsel Investigation of Trump:

Mark Meadows, the final White House chief of staff under President Donald J. Trump and a potentially key figure in inquiries related to Mr. Trump, has testified before a federal grand jury hearing evidence in the investigations being led by the special counsel’s office, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Mr. Meadows is a figure in both of the two distinct lines of inquiry being pursued by the special counsel appointed to oversee the Justice Department’s scrutiny of Mr. Trump, Jack Smith.

One inquiry is focused on Mr. Trump’s efforts to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, culminating in the attack by a pro-Trump mob on the Capitol during congressional certification of the Electoral College results on Jan. 6, 2021. The other is an investigation into Mr. Trump’s handling of hundreds of classified documents after he left office and whether he obstructed efforts to retrieve them.

It is not clear precisely when Mr. Meadows testified or if investigators questioned him about one or both of the cases.

For months, people in Mr. Trump’s orbit have been puzzled by and wary about the low profile kept by Mr. Meadows in the investigations. As reports surfaced of one witness after another going into the grand jury or to be interviewed by federal investigators, Mr. Meadows has kept largely out of sight, and some of Mr. Trump’s advisers believe he could be a significant witness in the inquiries.

Mr. Trump himself has at times asked aides questions about how Mr. Meadows is doing, according to a person familiar with the remarks.

Asked about the grand jury testimony, a lawyer for Mr. Meadows, George Terwilliger, said, “Without commenting on whether or not Mr. Meadows has testified before the grand jury or in any other proceeding, Mr. Meadows has maintained a commitment to tell the truth where he has a legal obligation to do so.”

[Mr.] Meadows was around for pivotal moments leading up to and after the 2020 election, as Mr. Trump plotted to try to stay in office and thwart Joseph R. Biden Jr. from being sworn in to succeed him. Some of them were described in hundreds of text messages that Mr. Meadows turned over to the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol before he decided to stop cooperating. Those texts served as a road map for House investigators.

Mr. Meadows also has insight into efforts by the National Archives to retrieve roughly two dozen boxes of presidential material that officials had been told Mr. Trump took with him when he left the White House in January 2021. Mr. Meadows was one of Mr. Trump’s representatives to the archives, and he had some role in trying to discuss the matter with Mr. Trump, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Mr. Meadows is also now connected tangentially to a potentially vital piece of evidence that investigators uncovered in recent months: an audio recording of an interview that Mr. Trump gave to two people assisting Mr. Meadows in writing a memoir of his White House years.

Mr. Meadows did not attend the meeting, which took place in July 2021 at Mr. Trump’s club at Bedminster, N.J. During the meeting, Mr. Trump referred to a document he appeared to have in front of him and suggested that he should have declassified it but that he no longer could, since he was out of office.

That recording could undercut Mr. Trump’s claim that he believed he had declassified all material still held at his properties for months after he left office.

ABC News adds, Trump’s ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows testifies to special counsel grand jury: Sources:

Former President Donald Trump’s last White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has testified before a federal grand jury hearing evidence in the special counsel’s investigations into Trump, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Sources said that Meadows answered questions on both Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents while he was out of office.

Meadows’ appearance was first reported by The New York Times. It was not immediately clear exactly when he appeared before the grand jury, which has been meeting regularly in Washington.

His testimony is not unexpected. Earlier this year, a federal judge rejected Trump’s claims of executive privilege and ordered Meadows and other former top Trump aides to testify before the grand jury, multiple sources familiar have said.

Meadows had been subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith along with the other ex-Trump aides for testimony and documents related to the DOJ probe.

Assuming that Mark Meadows has testified fully and truthfully, there are a large number of individuals in the seditious conspiracy, in addition to Donald Trump, who will be charged with crimes for January 6. This likely includes GQP members of Congress, Republican lawyers and political operatives, Trump aids, and former advisors like Steve Bannon and Roger Stone.

In Watergate, more than 40 government officials were indicted and went to prison. The prosecution of Donald Trump’s seditious conspiracy could easily break the Watergate record.