House Jan. 6 panel threatens Mark Meadows with contempt if he doesn’t appear for deposition

Los Angeles - The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot upped the stakes for former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Thursday — one day before Meadows was scheduled to give a deposition to the committee on Capitol Hill. 

The select committee stated Meadows is expected to appear for deposition testimony on Friday, Nov. 12 at 10 a.m. If Meadows does not appear and produce documents that Congress has requested, committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson warned in a letter to Meadows’ attorney that the panel will view Meadows’ defiance as "willful non-compliance."

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"Such willful noncompliance with the subpoena would force the Select Committee to consider invoking the contempt of Congress procedures in 2 U.S.C. §§ 192, 194—which could result in a referral from the House of Representatives to the Department of Justice for criminal charges—as well as the possibility of having a civil action to enforce the subpoena brought against Mr. Meadows in his personal capacity," Thompson wrote in the letter.

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 21: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows talks to reporters at the White House on October 21, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

The White House on Thursday also notified a lawyer for Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, that President Joe Biden would waive any executive privilege that would prevent Meadows from cooperating with the committee, according to a letter obtained by the Associated Press. The committee has subpoenaed Meadows and more than two dozen other people as part of its investigation.

Meadows’ lawyer, George Terwilliger, issued a statement in response, saying Meadows "remains under the instructions of former President Trump to respect longstanding principles of executive privilege."

"It now appears the courts will have to resolve this conflict," Terwilliger said.

This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press contributed.