Who is Mark Meadows? Meet Trump's chief of staff who defied Jan. 6 committee subpoena

From the Jan. 6 Committee’s public hearings, the country is learning the names of Trump administration officials and associates who played a role in the scheme to allow President Donald Trump to hang onto power by overturning the results of his election defeat to Joe Biden.

Witness testimony has offered a window into the White House in the days leading up to and on Jan. 6 as a violent pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol.

At the latest hearing, Cassidy Hutchinson, an ex-White House aide, recounted conversations among White House officials and Trump on the day of the attack, testifying at length about the actions of her former boss and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

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Who is Mark Meadows and what role did he have in the Trump administration?

Meadows was the White House chief of staff in the final year of Trump’s presidency. As the president’s right-hand man, Meadows had firsthand knowledge Trump’s effort to undermine the 2020 presidential election results.

He met with Georgia state officials to press them about alleged election fraud and said the National Guard would protect “pro-Trump people" on Jan. 6 before the riot broke out at the Capitol, USA TODAY reported.

Hutchinson, his former aide in the White House, testified before the Jan. 6 committee Tuesday that Meadows was well aware of the violence that could erupt on the day of the attack, appeared unconcerned when it did and sought a presidential pardon thereafter.  

A spokesperson for Meadows denied he ever sought a pardon.

The committee subpoenaed the former chief of staff, but he refused to comply. The Democrat-controlled House voted to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress, but the Department of Justice has opted not to criminally prosecute him, Politico reported.

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What did Mark Meadows do before working for Trump?

Before taking his post inside the Trump White House in 2020, Meadows was considered one of Trump's closest allies in Congress, where he represented a district in western North Carolina in the House for seven years.

In 2013, still a fresh face on Capitol Hill, Meadows made a name for himself by helping lead the group of Republican lawmakers who provoked a government shutdown when the House and Senate couldn't agree on spending legislation, CNN reported. He was an ally of the staunchly-“small government” Tea Party movement that sprung up in the wake of Obama’s 2008 election victory.

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He took his place as one of the more conservative members of Congress, helping found the House Freedom Caucus in 2015 that ousted Republican House Speaker John Boehner and pushed the Republican Party further to the right, Vox reported. In December 2019, he announced his retirement from Congress to go work for Trump.

What is Mark Meadows doing now?

Meadows served in the Trump administration until the end of the term. Shortly after, he took a job at a newly formed DC-based organization that provides support to GOP lawmakers founded by retired South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.

But much of what has kept Meadows’ name in the news is his connection with Jan. 6 and Trump’s to foil the 2020 election results certification.

The Jan. 6 Committee has worked to paint a picture of his involvement since it began its work last summer.

He has also been the subject of a voter fraud investigation in North Carolina for voting using registration at an address where he did not reside, USA TODAY reported.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Mark Meadows? What to know about Trump's chief of staff