Biden says Trump's ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows is 'worthy of being held in contempt' of Congress

• Biden reacted to the House voting to hold ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt.
• "It seems to me he is worthy of being held in contempt," he said on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday reacted to the House of Representatives voting to hold Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump's chief of staff, in contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with a subpoena.

"I don't know enough with what, just what I've seen, I've not spoken to anyone," Biden told reporters outside the White House. "It seems to me he is worthy of being held in contempt."

The Democratic-led House voted on Tuesday night to hold Meadows in contempt after he declined to turn over additional documents and appear for a scheduled deposition before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot. Only two Republicans, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who are members of the committee, joined every Democrat in support of the measure.

The case now heads to the Department of Justice, which will decide whether or not to weigh potential criminal charges against Meadows.

Meadows had been cooperating with the committee up until last week when his lawyer wrote to lawmakers that they have "no intention of respecting boundaries concerning Executive Privilege." Meadows claims he's protected by Trump's assertion of executive privilege, otherwise known as the right to keep information confidential. Lawmakers on the panel disagreed and said Meadows has no right to assert executive privilege.

Meadows is the second person to be held in contempt for defying a January 6 committee subpoena. In October, nine Republicans broke ranks and voted to refer Steve Bannon, Trump's one-time White House chief strategist, to the DOJ. Bannon surrendered to the FBI on November 15 before pleading not guilty two days later.

Ahead of Tuesday's vote, the committee met for a hearing on Monday night and revealed text messages that Meadows received from Trump administration officials, lawmakers, and members of the media during the Capitol riot, urging him to get Trump to put an end to the violence.

Meadows submitted those texts to the committee, but failed to provide additional documents and appear for a testimony to answer questions about what happened on January 6. Trump's lawyer previously advised Meadows and other Trump aides not to comply with the subpoena, citing executive privilege.