Mark Meadows’ aide just sold him out
From the start of the January 6th Committee subpoena process, we’ve predicted that witnesses who are already on the hook for serious crimes would be less likely to cooperate for fear of further incriminating themselves, while witnesses who had a front row seat to the action would be more likely to cooperate because all they have to do is give everyone else up and then their legal troubles are over. Sure enough, while former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has decided to go to prison for contempt rather than give up the goods, one of his aides has indeed decided to give up the goods.
Meadows aide Ben Williamson has testified to the January 6th Committee for about seven hours, according to a new CNN report. This amount of time is crucial, because it means he actually answered the committee’s questions in detail, as opposed to simply invoking imaginary legal reasons for dodging every question. In other words, Williamson has surely just sold out Meadows (and potentially other people) to the committee. Now the committee knows a good chunk of what Meadows was really doing in relation to January 6th and the attempted election overthrow, without even needing Meadows’ testimony.
In addition, now that the committee has a cooperating witness against Meadows, it sharply increases the odds that the committee will be able to successfully refer Meadows on charges like seditious conspiracy. If it becomes clear to Meadows that he’s looking at a lifetime in prison, he may have to seriously consider cooperating after all.
There’s a reason the committee has been taking the time to target hundreds and hundreds of witnesses, and not just the big names you’ve heard of. It’s the second tier witnesses who can give up the goods on the big names, and give the committee the leverage it needs against the big names.
