By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. congressional committee probing the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol voted on Monday to seek “contempt of Congress” charges against Mark Meadows, who served as White House chief of staff to former President Donald Trump.
The seven Democratic and two Republican members of the House of Representatives Select Committee approved a report recommending the criminal charge against Meadows by a unanimous 9-0 vote, paving the way for a vote by the full chamber.
Meadows has been called repeatedly to appear for depositions before the Democratic-led committee and has declined to do so despite being subpoenaed.
While he has turned over some information requested by the panel, he has held back many documents, arguing they are protected because he had worked for the president.
Meadows, who was a member of the House for more than seven years until joining the Trump administration in 2020, has sued the committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the matter.
His attorney, George Terwilliger, also sent a letter to the committee on Monday asking it to reconsider its plan to vote, arguing that it would be illegal for the panel to refer the matter for a House vote.
Representative Bennie Thompson, the Select Committee’s chairman, discounted that argument at Monday’s meeting, noting that Meadows published and is promoting a book that goes into detail about events being investigated by the panel.
“He has no credible excuse for stonewalling the Select Committee’s investigation,” Thompson said.
He said about 300 witnesses have testified, and its investigators have received more than 30,000 records.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Scott Malone and Kenneth Maxwell)
