Former White House chief of staff under Donald Trump, Mark Meadows, has reversed a deal regarding investigations of the January 6 insurrection. In late November 2021, Meadows reached a deal with the House committee to cooperate with the investigation. Meadows agreed to testify in the investigation, in light of former Trump associates refusing to testify.

However, Meadows has now reversed this deal, refusing to provide documents or interviews in regards to the investigation. Meadows’ lawyer wrote a letter to the committee, proposing Meadows comply in writing rather than spoken testimony. The lawyer claims that the House’s request of documents violates former president Trump’s “executive privilege.”

The letter also states that material sought by the committee contains, “intensely personal communications” that do not have relevance to the investigation. Committee member Jamie Raskin (D) of Maryland says,“I can’t imagine we will accept it… we’ve got to decide what to do. Our witnesses do not dictate the terms of our investigation.”

It is unclear whether Meadows’ demands will be met, or what effect they will have on the investigation as a whole. As of December 7, the committee has interviewed over 275 witnesses and has cooperation from several close contacts to the Trump administration. Committee chair Bennie Thompson (D) of Missouri vows to end the investigation by late spring  of 2022, but the timeline is unclear as of now.