AP Photo/Evan Vucci
- Trump is ignoring legal advice to stop talking to his former and current aides, including Mark Meadows, CNN reported.
- The DOJ is investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and has been in communication with Trump's attorneys.
- Meadows could potentially turn out to be a key witness in the department's investigation.
Former President Donald Trump has been ignoring legal advice from his lawyers to stop speaking with current and former aides — including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, CNN reported.
The Department of Justice is investigating the January 6 Capitol riot, and sources told CNN that Trump's legal team is in talks with the DOJ in relation to their investigation, the first known interaction between the two camps.
Trump's lawyers have advised the former president not to talk to his current and former aides, per CNN, specifically Meadows, whose former aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified before the House select committee that is also investigating the events of January 6, 2021.
Though a source told CNN that Trump and Meadows have communicated on several occasions, another source noted that Trump and Meadows' relationship is "not the same as it once was" compared to when they were both still in the White House.
"There is clearly a concerted effort to undermine the vital, Constitutionally-rooted Executive and Attorney-Client Privileges through partisan, political persecution," a Trump spokesman told CNN in a statement. "How can any future President ever have private conversations with his attorneys, counselors, and other senior advisors if any such advisor is forced, either during or after the Presidency, in front of an Unselect Committee or other entity, and be forced to reveal those privileged, confidential discussions?"
The spokesman added: "President Trump will not be deterred by witch hunts or kangaroo courts from continuing to defend and fight for America, our Constitution, and the Truth."
Former White House aides, including Hutchinson, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sarah Matthews, and Matthew Pottinger, have previously testified before the committee, revealing bombshell details about Trump's response to the January 6, 2021, riot.
In the wake of the testimonies from his former aides Hutchinson and Griffin, there still remains the chance the DOJ could seek Meadows as a witness in their probe.
In a statement to CNN, Meadows' attorney George Terwilliger said "all of that is idle and uninformed speculation, apparently by people that know little but talk a lot."
Nonetheless, former White House attorney Ty Cobb told CNN that Meadows is "perfectly positioned to be the John Dean of this mess," alluding to the former aide of former President Richard Nixon whose public testimony was crucial to the Senate committee investigating the Watergate scandal.
"The reason [Meadows] is valuable is also the reason he is in jeopardy: He was basically at Trump's right hand throughout all these exercises and participated in key meetings and phone calls," Cobb said.
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