Tag: Mark Meadows

Former White House chief of staff waves off Capitol riot with ridiculous argument

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The former White House Chief of Staff for the Trump administration is now speaking out to dismiss the severity of the U.S. Capitol riots. 

On Wednesday, Jan. 26, Mark Meadows made an appearance on “Fox & Friends” where he offered a partisan perspective on the Biden administration’s first full week in the White House, scrutinizing President Joe Biden’s executive orders that canceled out many of former President Donald Trump’s most controversial actions.

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade also asked Meadows for his take on Trump’s “Save America” rally, which occurred shortly before an angry mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to hinder the Electoral College certification. Since the rally influenced the U.S. Capitol riot and subsequently led to Trump’s second impeachment and the impending Senate trial, Kilmeade asked, “In retrospect, was that rally on January 6th … a good idea?” Continue reading.

Trump extended Secret Service protection to his adult children and three top officials as he left office

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In the days before he left office, President Donald Trump instructed that his family get the best security available in the world for the next six months, at no cost — the protection of the U.S. Secret Service.

According to three people briefed on the plan, Trump issued a directive to extend post-presidency Secret Service protection to his four adult children and two of their spouses, who were not automatically entitled to receive it.

Trump also directed that three key officials leaving government continue to receive the protection for six months: former treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, former chief of staff Mark Meadows and former national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien, two people familiar with the arrangement said. Continue reading.

Mark Meadows could face criminal exposure for his role in Trump’s Georgia phone call

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In the wake of last Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol, President Trump is reported to have compiled a lengthy list of potential subjects of presidential pardons, including top aides, outside advisers, family members, rappers and other celebrities, and himself. Among those on the list is current White House Chief of Staff and former North Carolina congressman Mark Meadows, who has so far not been accused of a crime, but could be in jeopardy for his role in the now-infamous phone call during which Trump pressured Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” votes for him, an apparent solicitation of fraud.

In addition to potential criminal exposure, Meadows identified himself in his White House capacity during an overtly political conversation and would appear to have violated the Hatch Act, a federal statute that the Trump administration has rendered virtually meaningless. Trump’s pardon power would not affect any possible civil action on campaign finance violations that might result from a complaint that a watchdog group filed against Meadows with the Federal Election Commission this fall, based on Salon’s reporting.

On the Jan. 2 call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a tape of which was leaked the next day to the Washington Post, Meadows played a dual role as emcee and translator for Trump’s possibly criminal demands. At the top of the conversation, he identifies himself as “the chief of staff,” then lists the participants, including the mysterious role of lawyer Cleta Mitchell, who Meadows said “is not the attorney of record but has been involved.” Later, Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes for him to win the state. Continue reading.

Mark Meadows could face criminal exposure for his role in Trump’s Georgia phone call

AlterNet logo

In the wake of last Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol, President Trump is reported to have compiled a lengthy list of potential subjects of presidential pardons, including top aides, outside advisers, family members, rappers and other celebrities, and himself. Among those on the list is current White House Chief of Staff and former North Carolina congressman Mark Meadows, who has so far not been accused of a crime, but could be in jeopardy for his role in the now-infamous phone call during which Trump pressured Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” votes for him, an apparent solicitation of fraud.

In addition to potential criminal exposure, Meadows identified himself in his White House capacity during an overtly political conversation and would appear to have violated the Hatch Act, a federal statute that the Trump administration has rendered virtually meaningless. Trump’s pardon power would not affect any possible civil action on campaign finance violations that might result from a complaint that a watchdog group filed against Meadows with the Federal Election Commission this fall, based on Salon’s reporting.

On the Jan. 2 call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a tape of which was leaked the next day to the Washington Post, Meadows played a dual role as emcee and translator for Trump’s possibly criminal demands. At the top of the conversation, he identifies himself as “the chief of staff,” then lists the participants, including the mysterious role of lawyer Cleta Mitchell, who Meadows said “is not the attorney of record but has been involved.” Later, Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes for him to win the state. Continue reading.

Mark Meadows tests positive for coronavirus

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White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has tested positive for the coronavirus, an official familiar with the matter confirmed late Friday.

The chief of staff is the latest high-ranking White House official to test positive for the highly-contagious virus. It was not immediately clear when he first tested positive, but he was at Trump campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday afternoon with dozens of other staffers. He was not wearing a mask.

Meadows was frequently in close proximity to President Trump when the president had his own bout with the virus last month. Several other top aides contracted the virus around the same time as the president, including Stephen Miller, Kayleigh McEnany and Hope Hicks, but Meadows managed to avoid catching it in that time. Continue reading.

Mark Meadows Accused Of Blowing Campaign Cash On Clubs, Cupcakes And Trump Hotel

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said Trump’s chief of staff likely violated campaign finance rules by using the money on personal expenses.

A watchdog group filed a complaint on Friday against President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, accusing him of spending tens of thousands of dollars of campaign funds on clubs, gourmet cupcakes, a jeweler and Trump hotels.

Meadows, a former congressman from North Carolina, announced last year that he would not run for reelection. But his campaign committee, Meadows for Congress, reportedly continued racking up expenses, including at the Trump International Hotel and its in-house restaurant, BLT Prime. Other payments went to grocery stores and the Lavender Moon Cupcakery in Washington, D.C., according to the complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The complaint was apparently sparked by an investigation by Salon, which also found that Meadows’ campaign dropped $2,650 at a Washington jewelry store the day Meadows officially resigned from Congress to become Trump’s chief of staff. Continue reading.

Gaffes put spotlight on Meadows at tough time for Trump

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For Mark Meadows, the gaffes have come at exactly the wrong time.

Meadows, President Trump‘s resolutely charming chief of staff, rose from Congress to the White House earlier this year on the wings of his devout loyalty to the president and an uncanny faculty for staying on message in front of the TV cameras.

Yet on several occasions this month — with Election Day looming and Trump trailing badly in the polls — Meadows has found himself racing to mop up contentious comments he’s made about the coronavirus, most recently his statement Sunday that the country is “not going to control the pandemic.” Continue reading.

Harris Slams ‘Greatest Failure In History’ As Meadows Admits Defeat In Pandemic

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) on Sunday slammed the Trump administration for “admitting defeat” in the fight against COVID-19 after White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told CNN “we are not going to control the pandemic.”

Meadows made the remark Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, telling host Jake Tapper that the president’s strategy is “to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas,” even as cases skyrocket across the United States.

“They are admitting defeat,” Harris told reporters when asked about Meadows’ comment. “This is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of America.” Continue reading.

White House signals defeat in pandemic as coronavirus outbreak roils Pence’s office

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The presidential campaign was roiled this weekend by a fresh outbreak of the novel coronavirus at the White House that infected at least five aides or advisers to Vice President Pence, a spread that President Trump’s top staffer acknowledged Sunday he had tried to avoid disclosing to the public.

With the election a little over a week away, the new White House outbreak spotlighted the administration’s failure to contain the pandemic as hospitalizations surge across much of the United States and daily new cases hit all-time highs.

The outbreak around Pence, who chairs the White House’s coronavirus task force, undermines the argument Trump has been making to voters that the country is “rounding the turn,” as the president put it at a rally Sunday in New Hampshire. Continue reading.