Former VP Mike Pence's Chief of Staff, Marc Short, is cooperating with the January 6th Committee. Short's subpoena and cooperation represents a potentially serious problem for Trump, and it could signal that Pence himself maybe...and that's a huge, huge maybe...could be willing to at least not stop his team from giving evidence and testimony to the committee.
Marc Short, the former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, is cooperating with the January 6 committee, a significant development that will give investigators insight from one of the highest-ranking Trump officials, according to three sources with knowledge of the committee's activities.
CNN is also reporting for the first time that the committee subpoenaed Short a few weeks ago.
Short remains one of Pence's closest advisers and is a firsthand witness to many critical events the committee is examining, including what happened to Pence at the Capitol on January 6 and how former President Donald Trump pressured the former vice president not to certify the presidential election that day.
Short's assistance signals a greater openness among Pence's inner circle. One source told CNN the committee is getting "significant cooperation with Team Pence," even if the committee has not openly discussed that. Another source told CNN that Short's help is an example of the "momentum" the investigation is enjoying behind the scenes.
Last month, CNN reported that a number of figures close to Pence, including Short, may be willing, either voluntarily or under the guise of a "friendly subpoena," to cooperate with the committee.
Reached by phone Monday and asked about his cooperation, Short told CNN "no comment." The select committee declined to comment when reached by CNN.
If Short is willing to cooperate against Trump, that could be the big break that the investigation needs to move ahead with conspiracy charges. Short would absolutely be aware of any memos and instructions given to Pence from Trump about the January 6th coup, because as Chief of Staff, it was literally his job to know it.
The question is whether or not Pence is going to play ball here. Pence himself won't testify, his career would be over instantly, but he'll be under heavy pressure to disavow everything Short may have to say.
On the other hand, the pressure has already gotten to former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows who is now not cooperating, the story coming hours after the Short news.
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows will no longer be cooperating with a committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, despite previous efforts to work with them.
Meadows and his attorney George Terwilliger plan to officially notify the committee Tuesday morning, after the senior Trump administration official could not come to terms with lawmakers on an arrangement to work with them.
"We have made efforts over many weeks to reach an accommodation with the committee," Meadows's attorney George Terwilliger told Fox News.
Terwilliger said Meadows was looking to appear voluntarily before the committee and answer questions that Meadows believed were not protected by executive privilege.
Meadows is set to appear on Hannity Tuesday evening.
Seems things are going all over the place now. Short cooperating, Meadows not, and Jeffrey Clark facing contempt charges along with Steve Bannon. Meadows will almost certainly face a criminal referral vote at this point, but as with the Bannon case, Merrick Garland will need time to put together a team to get this right.
Besides, the judge in Bannon's contempt trial has set a date...in July. This is the expedited date.
We'll see who is right.
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