The suit by Mark Meadows seeking to block or dismiss the January 6 subpoenas has been dismissed by the US District Court. The chief of staff at the White House under Donald Trump initially collaborated with the Select Committee but has since got drawn into a legal conflict with the Committee for close to a year.
Federal judge Carl Nichols, US Dist. Court (Dist. of Columbia), concluded that the subpoenas by the Select Committee were protected under the speech or debate clause of the US Constitution. He said that it is protected from civil suits as legislative action.
This verdict is the most recent in line with a legal battle that has dragged on for a year between the Select Committee and Mark Meadows. But Meadows is sure to protract the legal battle, and it is not likely to deliver the Select Committee what they sought all along.
Though his lawyer has not made any comment, Mark Meadows has the right to appeal against the ruling. But the Select Committee is running out of time. With the Republicans virtually certain to wrest control of the Senate and the House, the panel is likely to be shut down.
Delivering his judgment, Judge Nichols said that several issues raised by Mark Meadows stayed unsettled. It included if a past presidential aide can be obliged to bear witness before Congress or whether a former president can claim executive privilege or if a present American president can override a privilege claim by a former president.
Mark Meadows Involved In Subverting 2020 Presidential Election Results
Mark Meadows had sought to block the two subpoenas from the Committee that is investigating the January 6 riots, with one of them sent out to Verizon to access the text and phone data of Mark Meadows.
Mark Meadows was intensely a part of the efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election results. He has constantly pushed the Justice Dept. to investigate baseless conspiracy theories. He was also involved in communication with the January 6 mob organizers and strategizing with other members involved in the attack.
Mark Meadows had turned the subpoenas unduly burdensome and overly broad in the suit he filed last December.
