Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has refused to appear before the January 6 panel probing the Capitol riot.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Trump’s lawyers believe Mark Meadows will be a fall guy for January 6, Rolling Stone reported.
They’re already strategizing how to deal with his downfall, per the outlet.
Meanwhile, Trump has started trying to distance himself from Meadows, per Rolling Stone.
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers and advisers are making plans around former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’s expected downfall due to the January 6 investigations, Rolling Stone reported on Wednesday.
“Mark is gonna get pulverized… and it’s really sad,” one of Trump’s current legal advisers told the outlet.
The lawyer, who was not named, believed that Meadows didn’t buy into Trump’s election fraud lies but was “trying to perform” for the former president and may have “screwed himself completely” in the process, per Rolling Stone.
The outlet also reported that Trump has recently been trying to distance himself from Meadows in anticipation of the latter facing crippling legal troubles or possible criminal charges related to the Capitol attack.
Rolling Stone’s reporting was based on comments from eight anonymous sources working in Trump’s political or legal team or in Republican circles that often have contact with the former president.
Per the outlet, two sources said Trump has been telling associates that he had no idea what Meadows was doing on his behalf in the months leading up to the riot.
Meadows has been under scrutiny in recent weeks after being mentioned repeatedly in a bombshell testimony from a former top White House aide about the violence on January 6.
Cassidy Hutchinson, who was once Meadows’ aide, testified that Meadows knew Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally could result in violence and told her “things might get real, real bad on Jan 6.” However, Meadows did nothing to prevent it, she said publicly.
—The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) June 28, 2022
Hutchinson also testified that Meadows tried to obtain a pardon for his role in the riots, alongside Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and multiple members of Congress.
Several media outlets, including CNN and The Guardian, also reported that sources revealed an associate of Meadows’ was behind a text message sent to Hutchinson warning her not to testify publicly.
“He wants me to let you know that he’s thinking about you. He knows you’re loyal, and you’re going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition,” the message read.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House communications director under Trump, said in a CNN interview that Meadows told her she wouldn’t need to quit when Trump lost the 2020 election because he wouldn’t be leaving office.
“I said, ‘Sir, I’m planning to move on — I want to put in my notice.’ And he said to me, ‘What if I could tell you we’re actually going to be staying?'” Griffin said.
The next primetime hearing organized by the January 6 House Committee is slated for July 21. It’s not immediately clear how much the final hearing will focus on Meadows, but it is expected to concentrate on how the riot unfolded from the perspective of Trump’s White House.
Meadows has refused to appear before the January 6 Committee, which voted to hold him in contempt. While the committee investigating the attack cannot make criminal charges itself, it can refer individuals to the Department of Justice for prosecution.
A spokesperson for Meadows did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.