Mark Meadows Shoots Down Trump’s Classified Docs Spin

Mark Meadows told investigators in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office that he did not recall any order from Donald Trump to declassify hordes of documents that ended up at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home—and led to a litany of indictments, according to a new report.

Meadows also said he did not remember any “standing order” to declassify items as they left the White House, defusing one of Trump’s top public defenses against the claims. The disclosure of Meadows’ comments to federal investigators marks perhaps the first hint of his cooperation with the investigation.

The report, published by ABC News on Sunday, also shines another spotlight on one of the most egregious episodes in Trump’s classified documents indictment. ABC News reviewed an early draft of a prologue in Meadows’ book The Chief’s Chief, which references a classified war plan on display during a meeting with Meadows’ ghostwriter and publicist. Meadows acknowledged to investigators that he had the anecdote removed due to its “problematic” nature, but he denied Trump ordered its omission, according to ABC News.

That meeting was described in minute detail in Jack Smith’s first indictment against Trump, which recounted how the former president allegedly showed the ghostwriter a classified attack plan to rebut Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley’s public criticism of him.

Meadows’ comments come as some have questioned his absence in both federal indictments against the former president, particularly due to his proximity to power and his recent indictment in Georgia (which Meadows has sought to move to federal court). As chief of staff, Meadows oversaw the day-to-day operations of the West Wing, presumably including the transportation of classified documents.

He also was a primary character in Trump’s quest to overturn the 2020 election, though he only appeared briefly in the charging documents. That omission has left various people curious about whether Meadows, who testified to the federal grand jury despite minimal cooperation with the Jan. 6 congressional committee, has flipped.

“We don’t know for sure whether he’s cooperating with the Department of Justice,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month, preceding various articles speculating on Meadows’ involvement. “We don’t know whether he has cut some deal with the DOJ or whether he has yet to be indicted. We just don’t know.”