Mark Meadows, Trump’s Chief of Staff, Receives Subpoena

Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump‘s chief of staff, has been subpoenaed by investigators looking into the January 6 Capitol riots.

Special Counsel Jack Smith is seeking documents and testimony from Meadows.

Smith is tasked with investigating Trump’s involvement on January 6, efforts by the administration to overturn the 2020 election, and the classified documents Trump housed at Mar-a-Lago and refused to give to the national archives.

Meadows was one of Trump’s designees to the National Archives, giving him an inside look into the handling of classified documents. Meadows was also chief of staff on January 6, allowing insight into Trump’s directions during the Capitol riot.

Neither Meadow’s attorneys nor the Justice Department have confirmed the new revelations.

Smith’s investigation has acted swiftly, advancing into Trump’s inner circle in the past week.

News of the subpoena for Meadows comes days after the Justice Department sent a subpoena to former Vice President Mike Pence. The move directed at the people closest to the former President indicates the Justice Department’s growing momentum in its probe against Trump.

Smith’s subpoena of Meadows likely sets up a dramatic legal showdown. The former chief of staff has attempted to invoke executive privilege. Meadows previously fought a subpoena from a special grand jury in Georgia claiming the legal exemption, following an investigation into Trump’s call to the states Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find votes” necessary to overturn Georgia’s elections results.

Meadows lost the fight in Georgia, with the judge finding him “material and necessary to the investigation.”