White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows gestures as he walks back to the West Wing following an interview with FOX News outside the White House on October 25, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty Images
Two days after failing to appear for a scheduled deposition in front of the select House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, lawmakers are working quickly to refer Mark Meadows, former president Donald Trump’s ex-White House chief of staff, for criminal contempt, Rep. Adam Schiff said.
“I’m confident we’ll move very quickly with respect to Mr. Meadows also, but we want to make sure that we have the strongest possible case to present to the Justice Department and for the Justice Department to present to a grand jury,” Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The panel previously warned that a no-show could lead to him being found in contempt of Congress. It would follow similar actions against Steve Bannon, a former Trump advisor. The House last month voted to hold Bannon in contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena for his deposition and records.
“When ultimately witnesses decide, as Meadows has, that they’re not even going to bother showing up, that they have that much contempt for the law, then it pretty much forces our hand and we’ll move quickly,” Schiff told NBC.
The pair are among more than a dozen former Trump White House officials and allies who have received subpoenas for testimony and documents from the select committee. The panel is investigating the events that led up to, as well as the day of, the Jan. 6 insurrection.
—CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
