Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has reportedly complied with a Justice Department subpoena tied to the investigation into the events surrounding the Jan 6 Capitol riot.
CNN broke the story and cited "sources familiar with the matter." Per the unnamed sources, Mr Meadows turned over the same materials that he gave the House select committee probing the Capitol riot.
Mr Meadows' compliance makes him the highest ranking member of former President Donald Trump's administration to comply with the Justice Department subpoenas.
The information Mr Meadows has turned over includes thousands of text messages and emails between himself and other administration officials, conservative media figures, and other conservative personalities. He withheld hundreds of messages using executive privilege as his justification. If the Justice Department pushes him for the remaining materials, it could spark a fight over the lengths of executive privilege.
After his messages made headlines, he stopped cooperating with the Justice Department's investigation. The move prompted Congress to call for him to be held in contempt, though the department did not prosecute him on those charges.
Tristen Snell, a lawyer and former assistant attorney general for New York state, told Newsweek on Thursday that Mr Meadows' current compliance may explain why the Justice Department did not pursue the contempt charges.
"This is why DOJ did not prosecute Meadows for contempt of Congress: he was already working with them," he said. "This is NOT good for Trump. Meadows was Trump's right hand man on everything related to January 6."
The Justice Department's investigation into the Capitol riot has grown to include much of Mr Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election, including the plot to use fraudulent electors to strip the election from Joe Biden.
At least 30 subpoenas have been issued to people connected to Mr Trump, including former top campaign officials and fundraisers.
In the last week, the Justice Department has seized the phones of two of Mr Trump's top advisors, Mike Roman and Boris Epshteyn, according to unnamed sources speaking to the New York Times.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — a loyal supporter of Mr Trump who has held numerous events trying to prove the 2020 election was stolen to no effect — also had his phone seized by the Justice Department.
According to the Times report, many of the subpoenas are seeking information regarding the fake elector plot.
Other subpoenas are focused on the Save America political action committee that Mr Trump founded after the 2020 election to handle fundraising activities.
The ramping up of the Justice Department comes at an already chaotic time for Mr Trump, as he is also under investigation for allegedly unlawfully removing classified government documents from the White House and storing them at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Mr Trump has denied all allegations of wrong-doing, arguing that the investigation is a "witch hunt" and demanding the return of "his" documents, which are legally the property of the US government.
