Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows has been walking a tightrope, trying to strike a careful balance of complying with federal investigators who are using his testimony to prosecute Trump, while not crossing any red lines that would jeopardize his influential political relationships with congressional Republicans.
That balancing act was on full display Tuesday night: Hours after an ABC News report that Meadows had been granted immunity and met multiple times with special counsel Jack Smith’s team, Meadows was spotted at a right-wing gala in Washington, DC, mingling with well-connected Republicans, according to two people in attendance.
Meadows provided information to federal investigators in both the 2020 election subversion and the classified documents investigations after receiving immunity to comply with a subpoena, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. He didn’t get blanket immunity but instead received assurances he wouldn’t be prosecuted for what he shared with investigators, the sources said.
As a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus who spent years in Congress as a partisan attack dog, Meadows still wields significant influence among conservative lawmakers. But his clout within pro-Trump circles could be threatened if Republicans suspect that he turned on the former president.
“He’s just trying to be a good faith operator and work with them,” a person close to Meadows told CNN about his interactions with special counsel prosecutors. “That doesn’t mean that he’s selling anybody out or flipping.”
As recently as this month, Meadows met privately with House Republicans, both on and off Capitol Hill, about the race for House speaker— pushing GOP members toward supporting more conservative candidates who are aligned with Trump, sources familiar with the meetings told CNN.
And yet,…
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