MSNBC
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is skeptical of Mark Meadows' cooperation with the House select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riot.
The former White House chief of staff spent Jan. 6 alongside Donald Trump as the former president's supporters stormed the Capitol to stop the certification of his election loss, and Schiff told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Meadows could be a key witness for the bipartisan committee -- if he fully cooperates in good faith.
"He is producing documents, I can't speak to the contents yet," Schiff said. "In terms of whether he is cooperating, time will tell when he comes in to be deposed. We'll find out whether this is a gambit or whether he is serious about cooperating with the committee. We don't know. I have to say, I'm a bit skeptical, given his track record, but we are going to find out very soon."
"We think he has a lot to offer the committee, but I think at this point, it is still too early to tell whether this is a legal strategy to avoid being held in criminal contempt or whether we're seeing the road that Steve Bannon is on," he added. "He made a decision to change course. We'll find out when he comes for the deposition. If he tries to assert privilege over things that are not privileged, it is clearly a legal stratagem. We don't think there is any meritorious claim of privilege here, and we have to decide what to do if he makes assertions."
That includes a referral to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress charges.
"We won't take anything off the table," Schiff said.
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