WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. judge has ordered Mark Meadows, a former chief of staff to Donald Trump, and other top former aides to the ex-president to testify before a federal grand jury probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, ABC reported on Friday, citing multiple sources.
The grand jury is investigating a failed bid by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, one of two probes into the former president being handled by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Republican Trump, who is running for president in 2024 and calls the investigations politically motivated, has sought to claim executive privilege to prevent former aides from testifying. He also faces separate inquiries in Georgia and New York.
Citing multiple sources, ABC reported that U.S. Judge Beryl Howell, in a sealed order last week, rejected Trump’s claim of executive privilege for Meadows and other former aides including former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
The former aides also included former Deputy Chief of staff Dan Scavino, former top Department of Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli, and advisers Stephen Miller, Nick Luna and John McEntee, ABC reported.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did lawyers for Trump, Meadows and Miller. Reuters was not immediately able to reach the other former aides or their lawyers.
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub and Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
