Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows testified in Justice Department probes of ex-president
- Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows testified in Justice Dept. investigations
- They are over classified documents and trying to overturn the 2020 election
Donald Trump‘s former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has testified to a federal grand jury in a special counsel’s investigations of the former president.
It is not clear whether Meadows’ testimony, first reported on Tuesday by The New York Times, was about Trump’s mishandling of classified documents or his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
It is also not clear when Meadows testified, though he has been considered for some months a key witness in both Justice Department investigations, both of which are being overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
In a statement to the Times, 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.’
Donald Trump’s former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (pictured) has testified to a federal grand jury in a special counsel’s investigations of the former president, sources told The New York Times
Justice Department investigations into Trump’s mishandling of classified documents and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results are being overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith (pictured in 2010)
Three lawyers for Trump this week visited the Justice Department amid reports that prosecutors are wrapping up the investigation of the documents.
Several media outlets reported that his legal team was at the Justice Department to argue that prosecutors should not bring charges against Trump for his handling of sensitive government materials he kept after leaving the White House in 2021.
Trump last week insisted he had done nothing wrong in his handling of official papers and finally responded to revelations that he was recorded discussing how he kept a classified Pentagon document after leaving the White House.
A day earlier it emerged that federal prosecutors had been given an audio recording of him effectively admitting that he knew he had kept classified documents.
He ignored questions about the controversy as he hit the campaign trail in Iowa but was forced to address them when Fox News host Sean Hannity raised the issue in a televised townhall.
‘All I know is this everything I did was right,’ he said. ‘We have the Presidential Records Act, which I abided by 100 percent.’
Former President Donald Trump appeared in a Fox News town hall last Thursday, during which he shrugged off revelations that he was recorded admitting he knew he had classified documents. He is pictured that day at a Team Trump volunteer leadership training event in Iowa
The controversy exploded into public view last year when the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump’s Florida home of Mar-a-Lago. He is now under federal investigation
He then pivoted to attack President Joe Biden and official documents that were recovered from his home and office.
Trump is the subject of a federal investigation into his handling of documents recovered from his Mar-a-Lago home.
CNN obtained details of the recording, which related to plans for an attack on Iran.
In it, Trump reportedly suggested that he wanted to share information from the document with others but knew there were limits to what he could declassify after he left office.
The comments, made in July 2021 at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, would seem to undercut his repeated claims that he declassified the documents he took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office.
‘Biden has 1,850 boxes, with a lot of classified stuff that he’s not supposed to have in his case. I have the right to declassify as president,’ he said.
‘He’s got 1,850 boxes that he doesn’t want anyone to see.’
The 1,850 boxes in fact refer to documents donated by Biden to the University of Delaware in 2012 from his time as a senator representing the state, and are not subject to the same strict controls as White House documents.
