Tag: Mark Meadows

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Crime Donald Trump Justice Department

Jack Smith Accuses Trump Of ‘Threatening’ Mark Meadows – Judge Considering Penalties

Multiply-indicted former president Donald Trump is once again in very hot water due to his inability to keep his threats to himself, and could be on the verge of being punished legally for his actions.

Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed an emergency motion with U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan accusing the disgraced ex-president of threatening his former chief of staff Mark Meadows.

ABC News reports:

In a filing Wednesday night to the judge presiding over Trump’s federal election interference case in Washington, Smith’s team said Trump’s “harmful” post on Truth Social was trying to “send an unmistakable and threatening message to a foreseeable witness in this case.”

Smith’s team argued to U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan that the alleged threat is just one more example of why a limited gag order in the case is needed as soon as possible.

Chutkan had issued such a gag order early last week but then temporarily suspended it after the former president’s legal team appealed the judge’s order to a higher court.

Here’s the post that drew the court filing from Smith. It was made on Trump’s failing Truth Social site:

I don’t think Mark Meadows would lie about the Rigged and Stollen 2020 Presidential Election merely for getting IMMUNITY against Prosecution (PERSECUTION!) by Deranged Prosecutor, Jack Smith. BUT, when you really think about it, after being hounded like a dog for three years, told you’ll be going to jail for the rest of your life, your money and your family will be forever gone, and we’re not at all interested in exposing those that did the RIGGING — If you say BAD THINGS about that terrible “MONSTER,” DONALD J. TRUMP, we won’t put you in prison, you can keep your family and your wealth, and, perhaps, if you can make up some really horrible “STUFF” a out him, we may very well erect a statue of you in the middle of our decaying and now very violent Capital, Washington, D.C. Some people would make that deal, but they are weaklings and cowards, and so bad for the future our Failing Nation. I don’t think that Mark Meadows is one of them, but who really knows? MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!

The filing from Smith’s team alleges that Trump has a “long and well-documented history of using his public platform to target disparaging and inflammatory comments at perceived adversaries. When the defendant does so, harassment, threats, and intimidation foreseeably and predictably follow.”

Just last week, Judge Chutkan issued a limited gag order that specifically prohibited Trump from attacking the special counsel or members of his team, court staff, or any witnesses in the ongoing case, which is scheduled for trial in March of next year.

Smith notes in the filing, “Recent social media posts targeting a known witness in this case in an attempt to influence and intimidate him” necessitate a more stringent gag order.

 

Categories
Crime Donald Trump Elections GOP

Meadows Immunity Deal Is ‘Crack In The Dam’ That Could Destroy Trump And The GOP: Report

Former Trump administration White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is now cooperating with Special Counsel Jack Smith and providing testimony to a grand jury that could serve as the final nail in the political coffin for disgraced ex-president Donald Trump and many top Republicans.

ABC News reports that Meadows reached an immunity deal with Smith and has been spilling the beans regarding efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

(Meadows) has spoken with special counsel Jack Smith’s team at least three times this year, including once before a federal grand jury, which came only after Smith granted Meadows immunity to testify under oath, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The sources said Meadows informed Smith’s team that he repeatedly told Trump in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election that the allegations of significant voting fraud coming to them were baseless, a striking break from Trump’s prolific rhetoric regarding the election.

That, according to Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig, is another piece in the puzzle, especially since many members of the GOP have said that Meadows’ autobiography has been cited by prominent Republicans for why they believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.

“We have seen texts and exchanges that Mark Meadows had with people in the White House counsel’s office and other lawyers in which he made fun of the claim that there was an election that had been stolen. There was fraud enough in states such as Georgia to call those counts into question. As I remember one of those text exchanges, he said even my son hasn’t found enough dead people that voted in Georgia to raise questions about this. So, it’s pretty powerful stuff.”

That’s where the autobiography comes into play, Leonnig added:

“If he’s acknowledging that those were false, it reveals to most of us reporters who have been covering this for a long time that the jig is up for a host of other Republican leaders who have been trading on this story, to stay connected to voters, that they think are riled up about this. To stay connected to a group of people that they are misleading in order to get their votes. People who gobble up conspiracy theories, distrust the government, and can be loosely misled and led astray.”

In other words, Leonnig continued, the immunity deal could be a “crack in the dam” of GOP denial.

“It will be really interesting to watch what happens for other Republican leaders who have insisted that the election was stolen. Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Jim Jordan, a host of people, many of whom are closely tied to Mark Meadows and Donald Trump.”

It’ll be fun to see what lies people such as Graham, Cruz, and Jordan try to use to cover the lies they’ve been telling for three years about the 2020 election. And it’ll also be interesting to see exactly what Trump knew, when he knew it, and just how large of a role he played in possibly illegal activities for the purpose of remaining in office.

Stay tuned. All rats are about to be exposed to the light of truth.

 

Categories
Crime Donald Trump Elections GOP

Court Documents Reveal Mark Meadows And Other Co-Defendants Are Already Flipping On Trump

With each day and each new court filing from attorneys representing co-conspirators who allegedly worked with disgraced former president Donald Trump to try and overturn 2020 election results in the state of Georgia, it becomes clearer that many of those charged are eager and willing to toss the ex-president under the bus in order to save their own asses, according to a report from Politico.

One of those co-defendants is former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

During a hearing in Atlanta, a defense attorney for Meadows called attention to Trump’s prominent role in what is certain to be a crucial element of prosecutors’ case there: the infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump demanded that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, “find” enough votes to declare Trump the winner.

Meadows arranged that pivotal call. But after prosecutors played audio of the call in the courtroom, an attorney for Meadows emphasized that his client’s part in the actual discussion was both more minor and less provocative than Trump’s.

“There’s a lot of statements by Mr. Trump. Mr. Meadows’ speaking roles were quite limited,” Meadows’ lawyer, Michael Francisco, observed as he cross-examined Raffensperger, who was called to testify by prosecutors.

“He didn’t make a request that you change the vote totals — Mr. Meadows, himself?” Francisco continued.

“Correct,” Raffensperger replied.

And then there was this, which also appeared in court documents:

Meadows made clear in his own testimony at last week’s hearing that Trump viewed the false electors as a significant part of his strategy to remain in power. He said he sent an email pushing the campaign to assemble those slates because he feared a tongue-lashing from Trump.

“What I didn’t want to happen was for the campaign to prevail in court action and not have this” lined up, he said.

“Why?” prosecutor Anna Cross asked him.

“Because I knew I’d be yelled at by the president of the United States,” he said.

The Georgia racketeering charges filed against Trump and 18 co-defendants by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis could send each person to prison in the Peach State for decades, meaning that everyone associated with the conspiracy has a strong incentive to cooperate with prosecutors or prepare for a long term of incarceration.

Trump has also been indicted in Florida and Washington, D.C. by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

 

Categories
Crime Donald Trump Espionage

Mark Meadows Agrees To A Plea Bargain In Exchange For Testimony Against Trump

Everywhere he looks, failed former president Donald Trump can feel the walls (and the law) closing in on him.

According to a stunning report from The Independent, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has taken a plea bargain in exchange for his testimony against the ex-president, and that means prosecutors will soon have all of the evidence they need to prosecute the Donald for his classified document crimes and his role in January 6.

Over the course of the last year, grand jurors have heard testimony from numerous associates of the ex-president, including nearly every employee of Mar-a-Lago, former administration officials who worked in Mr Trump’s post-presidential office and for his political operation, and former high-ranking administration officials such as his final White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

Mr Meadows has already given evidence before the grand jury and is said to be cooperating with the investigation into his former boss. It is understood that the former North Carolina congressman will plead guilty to several federal charges as part of a deal for which he has already received limited immunity in exchange for his testimony.

Game over. That’s all Special Counsel Jack Smith needs as the capper to the evidence he’s already accumulated since he was appointed on Nov. 18 of last year.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) had this to say about the report that Meadows is now a cooperating witness against Trump:

“Mark Meadows had three options: 1. Take the Fifth Amendment. 2. Voluntarily cooperate. 3. Cooperate because he was given immunity or a plea deal. Based on the public reporting, it appears he did 2 or 3 above. This makes it more likely Donald Trump will be indicted, again.”

More indictments against Trump could be handed down as soon, according to reports, even though the one-term, twice-impeached former president insists he never did anything wrong.

As usual, Trump’s the last to know everything.

 

Categories
Capitol Insurrection January 6

Jan. 6 Committee Likely To Refer Meadows, Giuliani And Two Others For Criminal Charges

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol is expected to refer former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and ex-president Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to the Justice Department for criminal charges, according to CNN.

The panel is weighing criminal referrals for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, right wing lawyer John Eastman, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, the sources said.

The committee has not officially decided whom to refer to the Justice Department for prosecution and for what offenses, sources said. The four individuals who are among those under consideration, and whose names have not been previously reported, provide a window into the panel’s deliberations.

On Thursday, committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) confirmed that the panel will make a final decision on who to refer to the DOJ on Sunday.

“I think the more we looked at the body of evidence that we had collected, we just felt that while we’re not in the business of investigating people for criminal activities, we just couldn’t overlook some of them.”

Committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) echoed Thompson’s comments, noting:

“I think anyone who engages in criminal actions needs to be held accountable for them. And we are going to spell that out.

“The gravest offense in constitutional terms is the attempt to overthrow a presidential election and bypass the constitutional order. Subsidiary to all of that are a whole host of statutory offenses, which support the gravity and magnitude of that violent assault on America.”

Additionally, the House Select Committee is also debating whether or not to refer former president Trump for criminal charges, with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) telling NPR:

“I think the facts support a potential charge against the former president.”