Speaking of Trump troubles...

EARLIER THIS YEAR, Donald Trump sent some of his lawyers and political advisers on a “small fact-finding mission,” as a person with knowledge of the matter describes it to Rolling Stone. The former president wanted to know, according to that source and another person close to Trump: “What is Mark doing?”

  Rolling Stone

Saving his own hide would be my guess.

The Trump attorneys and advisers who went looking for answers returned with bad news for Trump: They couldn’t figure out what was going on, leaving them to repeat rumors and speculation.

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Justice Department investigators and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office had been keen on questioning Meadows under oath about Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election and to hoard government documents. And it’s been an ongoing mystery to Trump and his team how much Meadows has given the feds, and whether or not he’s actually cooperating. Months ago, Meadows and his lawyer severed communications with most of Trumpland.

Unlike Trump, Meadows listens to his attorneys.

Early this month, The New York Times revealed that Meadows had indeed testified before the grand jury, but scant details have been unearthed about what he discussed or to which specific topics his testimony was related.

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Trump has at times said that he doesn’t know what Meadows is doing, adding that it would be a “shame” if the MAGAland rumors were true.

Something might happen to his family?

Unfortunately for Meadows and other witnesses, Trump has for years often seen little difference between a witness having an official cooperation agreement with prosecutors, and someone who is legally required to answer questions and in doing so offers up potentially damning information to the authorities.

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[S]ome of Trump’s longtime allies and close advisers have taken to sardonically referring to Meadows by using the rat emoji in their private conversations.

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Following the wave of scandal and violence stemming from Trump’s attempt to cling to power after the 2020 election, Meadows mostly stayed in the former president’s good graces. At that stage, Meadows even privately said it was likely Trump would offer him a senior role headed into the next presidential contest — perhaps even as chairman of Trump’s 2024 campaign, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

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That never happened — and the once close relationship between Trump and Meadows started to fray, in a number of different ways, beginning in late 2021.

By the summer of 2022, it became clear to Meadows and his associates that some of Trump’s own lawyers and top advisers were trying to set up Meadows as a fall guy, as the Jan. 6-related investigations intensified.

You'd think people might learn that even if you give everything you've got to Trump, including putting yourself in legal jeopardy, he will not return the loyalty.

And then there was the issue of Meadows’ memoir, which, when released at the end of 2021, was aimed at making Trump look good. It backfired spectacularly.Meadows’ The Chief’s Chief — a 330-page love letter to Trump — has so far resulted in three major instances of public-relations damage or serious legal problems for former President Trump.

The book has repeatedly infuriated key Trumpland figures, including Trump himself.

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However, the source who knows both Meadows and Trump says any annoyance about this matter from Trump and others is “unfair,” given that the feds obtained audio that Trump himself knowingly created while aiding Meadows’ writing.

Still, in years past, Meadows’ memoir also caused outrage when it revealed Trump engineered a secret cover-up of his COVID-19 infection, potentially putting numerous people — including his 2020 opponent Joe Biden — in danger.

The book also nearly jeopardized Trump’s claims of executive privilege in the effort to stonewall the January 6 House committee.

It wasn’t meant to work out this way. “He thought Trump was going to love it,” a knowledgeable source told The Daily Beast in 2021, of Meadows’ hopes for the memoir when it was still in the works.

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Behind the scenes, Trump called Meadows “fucking stupid” in late 2021 for disclosing the details in his book and Meadows was left to try to distance himself from his own book, calling reporting about it “fake news” on MAGA cable networks.

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Like a number of witnesses called before the committee, Meadows argued that executive privilege — the doctrine that presidents are entitled to confidential advice in making decisions — prevented him from being able to share information about his discussions with Trump in the period after the 2020 election. But Meadows’ own book, which shared page after page of information about his conversations with Trump, briefly jeopardized the claim.

So, yeah, fucking stupid. Just like his boss, who regularly tells on himself.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.