“We’ve talked to a lot of Mr. Meadows’ associates and people who worked with him,” Douglas Letter, House general counsel, said in court on Wednesday at a hearing about a lawsuit Meadows brought against the committee.
The committee now has “laser-like focus” after obtaining thousands of documents and hundreds of other witness interviews, Letter added. But the committee still has questions for Meadows.
Judge Carl Nichols of the DC District Court said he would aim to potentially hold major court hearings in Meadows’ lawsuit, where the former Trump White House chief of staff argues he does not have to testify to the House, in the first two weeks of June. It was unclear how soon Nichols would rule after that.
The House committee has told the court it wants a ruling quickly, in the hopes that a decision in the House’s favor at the trial level would prompt Meadows to sit for an interview.
But a ruling against him from Nichols doesn’t necessarily mean Meadows would agree to testify right away, his lawyer, George Terwilliger, said on Wednesday. He could still appeal, if he were to lose.
“We intend to adjudicate Mr. Meadows’ rights in connection with that subpoena as fully and completely as we can,” Terwilliger said.
Meadows is perhaps the most prominent witness invited by the House not to have sat for an interview, save for Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
Meadows did not turn over other documents he had, and the House committee voted to hold him in criminal contempt of Congress for it and for his refusal to testify, referring the matter to the Justice Department. He has not been charged with a crime.
While the contempt proceeding bubbled up late last year, Meadows went to court, suing the committee. Citing the possibility that information around the ex-President may be privileged, Meadows has told the court he cannot testify and also has sought to block a House subpoena for his phone records.
Other White House advisers including Ben Williamson, one of Meadows’ top advisers, met with the committee for hours, while another, then-White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, has not and was also held in contempt.
The case was initially structured to move slowly, but the House’s recent maneuvering may send it toward crucial decisions this summer.
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