The game is afoot as Jason Miller begins cooperating with the January 6th Committee
All along we’ve predicted that witnesses who have underlying criminal liability would be less likely to cooperate with the January 6th Committee, for fear of incriminating themselves while cooperating. They might be more inclined to simply get themselves rung up for contempt, which comes with a shorter prison sentence, than risk helping get themselves sent to prison for much longer sentences. This has thus far proven true for Steve Bannon, who’s reportedly under criminal investigation in New York, and for Mark Meadows, who’s reportedly under criminal investigation in Georgia.
We’ve also predicted that witnesses who have no underlying criminal liability would be at least tempted to cooperate with the committee, because if they cooperate they’ll get off scot-free, but if they don’t cooperate they’ll go to prison for contempt.
To that end, Trump world figure Jason Miller has reportedly begun the process of cooperating with the committee today. In response the committee delayed the deadline for his cooperation, giving him a bit of breathing room before he’s up against a criminal contempt referral. Yes, he could still back out, like Mark Meadows did. But Miller surely had to give the committee some valuable evidence just to buy himself this very small amount of time. So even if he does back out, the committee will have gotten some goods from him, and can still ring him up for contempt in a few days.
What makes this situation different is that while Mark Meadows is under criminal investigation in Georgia for his role in the attempted overthrow of the 2020 election, Jason Miller is not known to be facing any criminal liability in relation to the 2020 election or January 6th. If he indeed broke no laws, then why would he want to go to prison for contempt just to protect Trump, when he can sell out Trump and go on with his life?
We’ll find out soon enough what’s really going through Jason Miller’s head, based on whether his cooperation continues or whether he breaks it off. But keep in mind that while Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon were going to end up in prison whether they cooperated or not, Miller and some other key witnesses appear to have an opportunity to go free just by cooperating. All the committee needs is one key witness to fully cooperate, not all of them. And if Miller ends up not fully cooperating, he’ll go to prison for contempt. So it’s a no-lose situation for the committee.
