The panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack are taking their time before deciding to pursue criminal contempt against Mark Meadows because it will be a bigger legal test.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

What is saving Mark Meadows from criminal charges? The former White House chief of staff faces a subpoena from House investigators. They want his testimony about the attack on the Capitol January 6. The Democratic-led committee issued a criminal contempt referral for Trump ally Steve Bannon in less than a month. But it's taken the panel twice as long to decide what to do with Meadows.

NPR congressional reporter Claudia Grisales reports.

CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: House Select Committee member Jamie Raskin has a message for witnesses subpoenaed in the investigation into the January 6 attack.

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JAMIE RASKIN: For us, it's not a game.

GRISALES: That's the Maryland Democrat on the Capitol steps talking to reporters.

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RASKIN: No one is going to operate with impunity here and in contempt of the law.

GRISALES: That's what the panel is weighing now from Mark Meadows, who saw President Biden waive executive privilege claims in his case but still will not answer any of lawmakers' questions. Meadows joined the Trump administration for its last 10 months after he served as a Republican member in Congress from North Carolina and chaired the conservative Freedom Caucus. California Democrat Zoe Lofgren, another member of the House panel, says Meadows' seven years in Congress are not part of a political calculation.

ZOE LOFGREN: I mean, I knew Mark and served with Mark. We got along reasonably well when he was here, although, we didn't agree on a lot of things. That has nothing to do with anything.

GRISALES: Meadows and his lawyer have been in talks with the panel since he got his subpoena in late September, missing several deadlines to appear. They argue executive privilege still prevents Meadows from answering any questions. But Lofgren disagrees.

LOFGREN: There is no absolute immunity, which is basically what he seems to be asserting.

GRISALES: Meadows' subpoena came at the same time as former strategist Steve Bannon, who is now fighting his indictment for criminal contempt of Congress. Bannon defied his subpoena outright, unlike Meadows.

KIM WEHLE: They're doing enough of a dance to say, listen, we're trying in good faith. Bannon's bad faith, arguably. Meadows is good faith. That's the difference.

GRISALES: That's Kim Wehle, a University of Baltimore law professor, who says, unlike Bannon, Meadows could have some immunity as a member of the administration on January 6. University of Kentucky law professor Jonathan Shaub says that could be especially true when it comes to Meadows disclosing some of his past conversations with Trump in his role as president.

JONATHAN SHAUB: The privilege claims that Meadows is going to raise are much stronger than Bannon's.

GRISALES: But Shaub says that immunity does not mean Meadows can dodge all the panel's questions. For example, lawmakers are asking Meadows if he used a personal email or cellphone on January 6. Shaub and others say that's clearly not shielded from disclosure because that could be linked to campaign activities. Those unanswered questions could give the committee the ammunition it needs to refer Meadows for contempt. But the dilemma is demanding more deliberation from lawmakers.

SHAUB: They're going to try to make the case as ironclad as possible.

GRISALES: Raskin says, regardless, one major point remains. Executive privilege does not cover insurrection.

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RASKIN: I mean, it makes the Constitution sound like some kind of death warrant for the democracy. And we know it's not that.

GRISALES: If the committee refers Meadows for criminal contempt, it would be the first such case for a former member of Congress. And it's helping make the panel's ultimate decision one of its most challenging yet to ensure compliance of its subpoenas.

Claudia Grisales, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.