Christie: Meadows 'looks to me like somebody who’s cooperating' with Smith



Former New Jersey governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday that he sees signs that Donald Trump's final White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is cooperating with the United States Justice Department's investigation into Trump's failed effort to nullify the results of the 2020 election and remain in power.

Earlier this month, Trump received a target letter from Smith notifying him that he is likely to be charged in connection with the January 6th, 2021 insurrection. Meadows is believed to have been present for everything on that fateful day, including what Trump did and did not do as his supporters stormed the Capitol and threatened to assassinate then-Vice President Mike Pence and outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California).

Yet Meadows has remained conspicuously off the grid in the weeks since special counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump on thirty-seven counts for unlawfully retaining classified documents at his Palm Beach, Florida Mar-a-Lago estate after the National Archives repeatedly requested their return.

READ MORE: Trump target letter alleges conspiracy, witness tampering and deprivation of rights: report

Speaking to Mitchell, Christie — himself an experienced federal prosecutor — explained that Meadows' radio silence likely indicates that his testimony is crucial to Smith's case into the erstwhile commander-in-chief's allegedly illegal behavior.

"Well, let me move on to, you know, Donald Trump. Mark Meadows, as you pointed out is, as we just pointed out rather, is not commenting. To your knowledge, you were still involved in the campaign up through the election night, really and then into December. Did he encourage the president's extensive efforts to not concede and begin the process of trying to overturn the election?" Mitchell asked.

"I don't know the answer to that question. I don't know the question to answer 'cause really after I denounced Donald Trump on ABC on Election Night, after I did that, I was not involved in any of those meetings anymore. So I don't have any firsthand knowledge to that," replied Christie, who worked on Trump's failed reelection bid.

"But what I will say in watching that video is that looks to me like somebody who's cooperating with the federal government. You know, witnesses, grand jury is secretive for the government. The government cannot reveal things about..." Christie continued until Mitchell interjected.

READ MORE: Conway: Meadows’ 'very strange quietness' could signal cooperation with special counsel

"But not for the witness," Mitchell said.

"But not for the witness," Christie confirmed. "The witness is told as they leave, 'You don't have to answer any questions or talk about it, but you are free to do so if you like.' The only time you can't do it is when the government has a cooperation agreement with you and they say, 'No talking about this. The only time we wanna hear you talking is when you're on the witness stand.' And that, to me, Mark Meadows looks to me like a federal witness under a cooperation agreement. And I, my guess is that's what we're gonna find out he is."

Watch the exchange below or at this link.

READ MORE: Impeachment lawyer details list of people who will be indicted along with Trump for 2020 election fraud



from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/NJw1dxU
via sinceretalk

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How misinformation could shape the Israel-Hamas war

Image
I wanted to interview Nicholas Grossman regarding the role of misinformation in the war between Israel and Hamas. In particular, I hoped to ask the professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, and senior editor of Arc Digital , about misinformation that arose from American reporting on an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. You know what? I ended up repeating a bit of misinformation! I asked him to lay out the facts about a blast that “killed hundreds, including kids,” and he said nuh-uh (not his words). In fact, Professor Grossman said, “there never were hundreds killed by an explosion at that hospital. Media reported that the hospital was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike killing 500, but that was based on something a Hamas-controlled agency said and was never supported by evidence.” Professor Grossman went on to say “what apparently did happen is something hit a nearby parking lot and caused a smaller explosion, most likely a rocket fired from Gaza towards I
Read more

PA GOP Senate candidate who says he 'started with nothing' actually grew up in a mansion

Image
David McCormick, who is Pennsylvania's presumptive Republican U.S. Senate nominee, has often suggested he grew up poor in a rural community. But a new report finds that his upbringing was far more affluent than he's suggested. The New York Times reported Friday that McCormick — a former hedge fund executive who lived in Connecticut as recently as 2022 — has been cagey with voters about his childhood. McCormick has tweeted that he was "raised in Bloomsburg working on his family's farm," said on a 2022 podcast that he " started with nothing " and told CBS News that same year that he " didn't have anything " growing up as the son of two schoolteachers. But according to the Times , McCormick's father, Dr. James H. McCormick , was appointed president of what is now Bloomsburg University by Gov. Milton Schapp (D) in 1973. He moved his family into Buckalew Place — the official mansion for presidents of the school that currently spans 5
Read more

'It is his aphrodisiac': Ex-RNC chair explains how gag order 'stimulates' Trump and his base

Image
As President Donald Trump faces gag orders in two separate cases — one from Judge Arthur Engoron presiding over his New York civil fraud trial, and the other from Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will preside of his Washington, DC January 6 trial in March — some experts expect him to violate the orders soon. With a history of threatening and verbally attacking others, MSNBC's Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday pointed to the fact the ex-president's rhetoric influenced January 6 rioters who chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!" Noting Trump "gets deeply stimulated and excited by the violence," Wallace asked analyst and ex-Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele what he thinks the MAGA hopeful's "calculation is on whether violating these gag orders lands him in jail is a good thing or bad thing for him." POLL : Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? Steele replied, "You put your finger on two very important words t
Read more