By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The House of Representatives committee investigating the deadly U.S. Capitol riot said on Tuesday that Mark Meadows, who served as former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, has provided it with records and agreed to appear “soon” for a deposition.
“Mr. Meadows has been engaging with the Select Committee through his attorney. He has produced records to the committee and will soon appear for an initial deposition,” Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House select committee, said in a statement.
Noting that the panel expects all witnesses to provide all the information requested and that it is lawfully entitled to received, Thompson added: “The committee will continue to assess his degree of compliance with our subpoena after the deposition.”
Trump has urged associates not to cooperate with the committee, calling the Democratic-led investigation politically motivated and arguing that his communications are protected by executive privilege, although many legal experts say that principle does not apply to former presidents.
On Jan. 6, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to prevent Congress from formally certifying his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Shortly before the riot, Trump gave a speech to his supporters repeating his false claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud and urging them to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” to “stop the steal.”
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Mark Porter and Will Dunham)
