A federal judge has ordered several of former President Donald Trump’s top advisers to testify before a grand jury as part of a criminal investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, according to reports Friday from ABC News and CNN.
Trump’s legal team tried to claim executive privilege to prevent his former aides from testifying and providing documents to special counsel Jack Smith, who had issued subpoenas as part of a larger investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. But in an order sealed last week, Judge Beryl Howell rejected Trump’s efforts, ordering Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff, to testify, among others.
Howell also ordered testimony from John Ratcliffe, Trump’s former director of national intelligence; Robert O’Brien, his former national security adviser; Stephen Miller, his former senior assistant; and Dan Scavino, his former deputy chief of staff.
Ken Cuccinelli, a former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, was also listed in the judge’s order. So were former Trump advisers Nick Luna and John McEntee.
Trump’s legal team is expected to appeal Howell’s decision, according to ABC News.
Howell in October rejected Trump’s claim of executive privilege to block testimony from some of former Vice President Mike Pence’s top advisers, Greg Jacob and Marc Short. In that decision, the judge ruled that it is up to the current president to assert executive privilege, not a former president.
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