Fact Check: Has Mark Meadows Cut 'Immunity Deal Against Trump'?

Ahead of Donald Trump's indictment, reports this week said that his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had testified to a grand jury as part of two federal investigations into the former president.

Several media outlets reported that Meadows answered questions under oath after being subpoenaed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the probes into Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and his actions around the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, as well as the inquiry into his retention of classified documents.

Following news of Meadows' testimony, claims appeared on social media that he had accepted a plea deal with the Department of Justice in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

The Claim

A tweet by @PalmerReport, posted on June 7, 2023, viewed 430,500 times, claimed that Mark Meadows "cut an IMMUNITY deal against Trump and will plead guilty to felonies of his own."

The tweet said: "HOLY S***, Donald Trump is getting indicted under the Espionage Act and it could happen is soon as TOMORROW. Also, Mark Meadows cut an IMMUNITY deal against Trump and will plead guilty to felonies of his own. Goodbye Trump, enjoy PRISON you traitor!"

The Palmer Report, a left-leaning news site, has 520,000 followers on Twitter.

The Facts

It is unclear whether the purported testimony from Meadows concerned Smith's probe of Trump's handling of classified documents or the investigation of his activities related to the U.S. Capitol riot.

Trump announced on Thursday that he had been indicted as part of Smith's investigation of his post-presidency handling of classified and sensitive documents.

He is now facing seven criminal charges related to Smith's classified documents probe, according to the ex-president's attorney, Jim Trusty.

The former president said that he was scheduled to be arraigned in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, blasting President Joe Biden's administration as "corrupt" while proclaiming his innocence and calling it a "dark day" for America.

A guilty plea deal for Meadows that could offer him immunity sounds, on paper, feasible. However, the Palmer Report's claim that an immunity deal has been cut is based on a report from an unnamed source that Meadows' attorney, George Terwilliger, has denied.

Terwilliger responded to a report by The Independent on Wednesday which included allegations from an unnamed source that Meadows would enter "pleas of guilty to unspecified federal crimes" as part of a limited immunity deal.

However, responding in the same article, Terwilliger told The Independent that the allegation was untrue. His comments did not address the possibility that Meadows, a former North Carolina congressman, was granted immunity.

In response to questions about the Palmer Report tweet, Terwilliger told Newsweek: "That report is completely inaccurate." Newsweek contacted Terwilliger again on Thursday evening via email to clarify whether he was referring to the Palmer Report or The Independent.

As it stands, until Trump appears in court, we might not know whether Meadows negotiated a plea deal.

However, the way that the Palmer Report presented the claim, that the immunity deal was cut, is (at least at this stage) misleading.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote in her blog this week that Secret Service agents hired to protect Trump might have also provided key evidence in the classified documents case. More than 20 members of the former president's security detail have testified before a grand jury in Washington, D.C., The New York Times reported.

The Ruling

Unverified.

An article published this week by The Independent reported that an unnamed source understood that Meadows had accepted a plea deal in exchange for limited immunity.

Meadows' attorney has denied the claim, without addressing the possibility that his client was granted immunity.

We do not know whether that deal was granted, which might only become known if Trump is seen in court.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team