Meadows testified before a federal grand jury three times this year after being granted immunity, ABC reported
Donald Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, secured an immunity deal with special counsel Jack Smith’s team to testify under oath about efforts by the former president to overturn the 2020 election results, ABC News reported this week. At least three times this year, Meadows reportedly testified before a federal grand jury after he was granted immunity – which compels witnesses to testify with the assurance that their statements or the information stemming from their statements won’t be used against them. “His cooperation,” legal experts tell Salon “is a very big deal.”
Meadows informed Smith’s team that he repeatedly told Trump in the weeks following the 2020 presidential election that the claims of substantial voter fraud lacked merit, marking a notable departure from Trump’s extensive rhetoric on the election, sources told ABC. The former White House chief of staff also informed federal investigators that Trump was being “dishonest” with the public when he declared victory on election night hours after polls closed, according to sources.
ABC News has identified apparent contradictions between Meadows’ 2021 book and what he allegedly told investigators this year. His book alleges that the election was “stolen” and “rigged” in part due to media complicity, but in private conversations, Meadows told investigators that he hasn’t seen evidence to dispute Biden’s victory and agrees with the government’s assessment that the 2020 presidential election was the most secure election in U.S. history.
However, this contradiction is not an “unusual problem” in criminal prosecution, former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor, told Salon. Very often, a criminal associate will deny allegations initially and then change their story later.
