Trump’s former chief of staff refuses to appear before Capitol attack committee – live

Jen Psaki announced that Joe Biden will pardon a turkey next Friday, continuing a decades-old White House tradition for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The press secretary noted that two turkey lives will actually be spared thanks to the tradition, as there is always an alternate turkey in Washington for the pardoning.

This year, the two birds will be coming from a farm in Indiana, Psaki told reporters.

Last year, Donald Trump presided over an awkward turkey pardoning ceremony, which came weeks after Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election:

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing, marking her return to the briefing room after testing positive for coronavirus.

Psaki noted that she was originally scheduled to join Joe Biden for his trip to Europe a couple weeks ago, during which the president met with Pope Francis, attended the G20 summit and participated in the Cop26 climate change conference.

She obviously did not do so after she tested positive for coronavirus. Prior to testing positive, Psaki had last seen Biden five days earlier, and they wore masks at the time.

Psaki told reporters that she experienced “mild symptoms,” including fatigue, and she said she is “incredibly grateful” for coronavirus vaccines, which helped protect her against severe illness and potential hospitalization.

Republican Lisa Murkowski confirmed today that she will seek another term representing Alaska in the US Senate.

Murkowski made the announcement in a campaign video, saying she will “work with anyone, from either party, to advance Alaska’s priorities”.

“I’m running for reelection to continue the important work of growing our economy, strengthening our Alaska-based military and protecting our people and the natural beauty of our state,” Murkowski said.

Murkowski is one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump for inciting the Capitol insurrection, and she is only member of that group who is seeking reelection next year.

Trump has already endorsed Murkowski’s primary challenger, former Alaska commissioner of administration Kelly Tshibaka, and he has pledged to campaign against the incumbent.

But Murkowski does have the support of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, per Politico, setting up a potentially close race next year.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to Donald Trump, did not appear for his scheduled deposition before the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection. Meadows’ attorney has said he will not testify until the courts determine the validity of Trump’s claims of executive privilege over documents linked to the Capitol attack. But the select committee and the White House have said Trump’s claims do not withstand legal scrutiny.
• It remains unclear whether the select committee will move forward with holding Meadows in criminal contempt. The House has already referred one of Trump’s former advisers, Steve Bannon, to the justice department for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the select committee. The justice department has not yet said whether it plans to prosecute Bannon.
• Joe Biden announced he will nominate Robert Califf to serve as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. But Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has already said he will oppose the nomination of Califf, who led the FDA during the final months of Barack Obama’s presidency. In order to get Califf confirmed, the White House will need to convince at least one Republican to support his nomination.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Joe Biden has just officially announced he plans to nominate Robert Califf as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

“Dr. Robert Califf is one of the most experienced clinical trialists in the country, and has the experience and expertise to lead the Food and Drug Administration during a critical time in our nation’s fight to put an end to the coronavirus pandemic,” Biden said in a new statement.

“Dr. Califf had strong bipartisan support in the Senate in 2016, and I urge the Senate to swiftly confirm Dr. Califf so he can continue the important work being done at this critical moment.”

But Califf’s confirmation is somewhat in doubt now that Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has indicated he will not support the nomination.

Given the 50-50 split in the Senate, Califf’s nomination will need to attract some Republican support in order to get approved.

Senator Joe Manchin has said he will oppose Robert Califf’s nomination if Joe Biden selects him to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

Manchin argued that Califf’s inadequate response to the opioid epidemic made his nomination “an insult to the many families and individuals who have had their lives changed forever as a result of addiction”.

The West Virginia senator noted he previously opposed Califf’s nomination when Barack Obama chose him to lead the FDA for the final months of his presidency. (Califf was ultimately confirmed in a vote of 89 to four.)

“I could not support Dr. Califf’s nomination in 2016 and I cannot support it now,” Manchin said.

“I urge the Administration to nominate an FDA Commissioner that understands the gravity of the prescription drug epidemic and the role of the FDA in fighting back against the greed of the pharmaceutical industry.”

Given the 50-50 divide in the Senate, Biden will need to convince at least one Republican to support Califf’s nomination in order to get him confirmed.

The Democratic chair of the select committee, Bennie Thompson, has previously made clear that he is open to holding Mark Meadows in criminal contempt for defying the panel’s subpoena.

In his letter yesterday to Meadows’ attorney, Thompson argued there is “no valid legal basis for Mr Meadows’s continued resistance to the Select Committee’s subpoena”.

“The Select Committee will view Mr. Meadows’s failure to appear at the deposition, and to produce responsive documents or a privilege log indicating the specific basis for withholding any documents you believe are protected by privilege, as willful non-compliance,” Thompson wrote.

“Such willful noncompliance with the subpoena would force the Select Committee to consider invoking the contempt of Congress procedures in 2 U.S.C. §§ 192, 194—which could result in a referral from the House of Representatives to the Department of Justice for criminal charges—as well as the possibility of having a civil action to enforce the subpoena brought against Mr Meadows in his personal capacity.”

The House select committee will now have to decide whether to pursue criminal contempt charges against Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff to Donald Trump.

If the committee votes to recommend holding Meadows in criminal contempt, the full House will vote on the matter.

If the House approves the contempt measure, which is likely given that Democrats control the chamber, the justice department would then have to decide whether to prosecute Meadows.

The House voted last month to refer Steve Bannon to the justice department for refusing to comply with the committee’s subpoena, but the department has not yet said whether it will prosecute the former Trump adviser.

The latest statement from Mark Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger, seems to indicate the former White House chief of staff will not be appearing for his scheduled deposition before the select committee this morning.

Terwilliger once again argued that the clash between Meadows and the committee investigating the Capitol insurrection represented a “sharp legal dispute”.

“Legal disputes are appropriately resolved by courts,” Terwilliger said. “It would be irresponsible for Mr Meadows to prematurely resolve that dispute by voluntarily waiving privileges that are at the heart of those legal issues.”

But the chair of the select committee, Bennie Thompson, and White House lawyers have said there is no legal basis for Meadows to ignore the panel’s subpoena.

In his latest letter to Terwilliger, Thompson said Donald Trump’s sweeping claims of executive privilege over the materials sought by the committee do not withstand legal scrutiny.

“[A]s you know and, as explained in my letter dated October 25, categorical claims of executive privilege run afoul of caselaw requiring that any claim of executive privilege be asserted narrowly and specifically,” Thompson said.

“Simply put, there is no valid legal basis for Mr. Meadows’s continued resistance to the Select Committee’s subpoena.”

One of Donald Trump’s former advisers, Steve Bannon, is already facing potential contempt charges over his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.

Bannon has used his popular podcast to continue spreading lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election. The day before the insurrection, he told listeners, “All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.”

When Bannon refused to comply with the committee’s subpoena, the House voted last month to refer him to the justice department for potential contempt charges.

Now the justice department has to decide whether to prosecute Bannon over the matter. The department has not yet announced any decision in the case.

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff to Donald Trump, is scheduled to testify today before the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.

But Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger, has indicated to the committee that the former administration official feels “duty bound” to disregard the panel’s subpoena because of Trump’s claims of executive privilege over the information sought by investigators.

In a letter to Terwilliger yesterday, the chair of the select committee, Bennie Thompson, warned that Meadows could face criminal contempt charges if he does not appear for his deposition.

“Simply put, there is no valid legal basis for Mr. Meadows’s continued resistance to the Select Committee’s subpoena,” the Democratic chair said.

“The select committee will view Mr Meadows’s failure to appear at the deposition, and to produce responsive documents or a privilege log indicating the specific basis for withholding any documents you believe are protected by privilege, as willful non-compliance.”

So will Meadows show up to testify, or will he join Trump adviser Steve Bannon in facing potential contempt charges? Time will tell.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.