Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows will be forced to testify before a grand jury hearing evidence in the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, rejecting former President Trump’s claims of executive privilege.

The decision was handed down in a sealed ruling last week by D.C. District Court Judge Beryl Howell – one of her final decisions before stepping down as chief judge.

Meadows, who evaded a subpoena from the House select committee investigating Jan. 6, has been identified as a key player in several efforts to keep Trump in office after losing the 2020 election.

Other aides, including former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, and Trump communications guru Dan Scavino, were also included in Howell’s order and must testify in the criminal probe.

Trump’s team can appeal the decision, though a three-judge panel at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld another Howell order, directing Trump’s attorney in the probe into documents held at his Mar-a-Lago property to answer questions about his conversations with the former president.

According to former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony, Meadows allegedly burned papers in his office “once or twice a week” and turned over more than 2,300 texts to the House committee.

In a statement, a Trump spokesman said, “The DOJ is continuously stepping far outside the standard norms in attempting to destroy the long accepted, long held, constitutionally based standards of attorney-client privilege and executive privilege…There is no factual or legal basis or substance to any case against President Trump.”

However, the DOJ’s investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot continues, and the testimony of Meadows and other Trump aides may provide valuable information for prosecutors.

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