Jan. 6 committee votes to hold Mark Meadows in criminal contempt

The select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol voted 9-0 on Monday evening to recommend that the House brings criminal contempt charges against former President Donald Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows.

The former Republican congressman complied with a subpoena to provide thousands of pages of evidence related to Jan. 6, but he stopped cooperating when he felt the panel wanted him to divulge information protected by executive privilege.

“Whatever legacy [Meadows] thought he left in the House, this is his legacy now,” Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said during the committee's opening remarks, The Associated Press reported. “His former colleagues singling him out for criminal prosecution because he wouldn’t answer questions about what he knows about a brutal attack on our democracy. That’s his legacy.”

Meadows filed a lawsuit last week against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the Jan. 6 committee members in an effort to block their subpoena issued to him and his personal cell phone carrier, Verizon.

The former chief of staff said he plans to cooperate with the committee once his lawsuit is resolved.

Several former Trump White House officials have faced contempt over the past few weeks.

Former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon was charged with contempt of Congress, and his trial is scheduled for July.

The committee recommended charges against Trump Department of Justice attorney Jeffery Clark earlier this month.