18 news organizations ask for access to court filings in Mark Meadows’ lawsuit against Jan. 6th Committee

A group of eighteen news outlets, led by CNN, have filed in court to gain access to sealed documents – specifically court filings – in Mark Meadows’ case against the Congressional January 6 investigative committee, saying the First Amendment and common law rights of access guarantee their rights to the information.

“These filings (together, the ‘Sealed Records’) are all subject to the First Amendment and common law rights of access. The public docket provides no explanation as to why, despite the strong presumption of transparency in this Circuit, these judicial records are not available to the public,” the court filing said. “The Court should therefore permit the Press Coalition to intervene and grant its motion for access to the Sealed Records.”

The outlets seeking access to the documents are: ABC News, CNN, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and The Associated Press. 

“The January 6 assault on the Capitol was a public event. The House Select Committee is making an effort to establish a public reckoning of that event,” the outlet’s wrote in their filing. “This Court should likewise conduct its work on this historic matter in full public view.”

Meadows, the former White House Chief of Staff under Donald Trump, has thus far provided the January 6 Committee with plenty of requested documentation, but has failed to appear for an interview in front of the panel and continues to fight against the committee’s legitimacy.

In the December lawsuit, Meadows said, “Congress has no freestanding power to issue subpoenas. Instead, its investigative powers are ancillary to its legislative authority,” the lawsuit says. “Because of this tie between the investigative and legislative powers, Congress may only issue subpoenas that serve a valid legislative purpose.”