Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and several other top advisers to Donald Trump was ordered to testify before the federal grand jury investigating the former president’s role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results and the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
According to ABC News, US District Judge Beryl Howell dismissed Trump’s claims of executive privilege for Meadows and other Trump administration alums, including former aides Nick Luna, John McEntee and Stephen Miller, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, former top DHS official Ken Cuccinelli and former deputy chief of staff and social media director Dan Scavino.
Some of them had already appeared before Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by AG Merrick Garland to lead the probe, but declined to answer certain questions about their interactions with Trump. They will now be required to return before the grand jury for additional testimony.
This is the latest legal setback for Trump who was also under investigation by a grand jury in Georgia for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
His attorney Evan Corcoran is also appearing before a grand jury on Friday that is investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago by the FBI last year.
In New York, a Manhattan grand jury is weighing whether to bring possible criminal charges against Trump relating to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election.
