Sources familiar with the matter told NBC News that a federal judge has ruled that some of former President Donald Trump’s closest aides, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows, should be indicted for their involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Must testify before a grand jury investigating.
US District Court Judge Beryl Howell rejected Trump’s argument that executive privilege granted him access to former advisers such as Dan Scavino and Stephen Miller, former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe and ex-national security adviser Robert O’Brien. Allowed the testimony to be blocked, the sources said.
The sources said others ordered to testify in the Jan. 6 probe included former DHS official Ken Cucinelli, former White House aides Nick Luna and John McEntee.
A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the judge’s order.
Trump is expected to appeal against the sealed verdict. Legal experts say a criminal investigation usually overrides executive privilege, as in the case when the Supreme Court forced President Richard Nixon to hand over tapes of his Oval Office conversations.
Howell, whose decision was first reported by ABC News, double-checks Special Counsel Jack Smith’s handling of documents with classified markings found at Mar-a-Lago until last week, into Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6 riots was overseeing legal challenges for When his term as Chief Justice ended. The case in Washington is now being overseen by his successor, Chief Justice James “Jeb” Boasberg.
The decision on Trump’s former aides, which was filed under seal because of an active grand jury investigation, was not Howell’s only major decision before she took office. In a separate ruling last week, she ordered Trump’s lawyer, Evan Corcoran, to testify in a case involving classified documents under the “criminal fraud” exception, which meant he could avoid answering investigators’ questions as attorney-client. Can’t cite privilege.
Corcoran testified before the grand jury on Friday.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the cases being investigated by Smith.
Most of the former aides named in Howell’s order testified before the House committee probing the January 6 riots, but Meadows and Scavino, who ran Trump’s social media accounts, both declined subpoenas to testify from the panel.
The House later referred him to the Justice Department for criminal contempt of Congress charge. The Justice Department announced in June that it was declining to prosecute Meadows and Scavino.
Meadows also fought efforts to testify before a grand jury in Georgia investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the election results in the state. Meadows lost his court challenges and eventually testified.