Capitol attack panel says ?no choice? but to advance contempt charges for Mark Meadows

The leaders of the House committee investigating the 6 January Capitol attack have said they have "no choice" but to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress after his lawyer said Tuesday that his client will cease cooperating with the panel.

The Democratic chair of the committee, Mississippi congressman Bennie Thompson, released a letter to Meadows's attorney, George Terwilliger, notifying him of the panel's plans.

"The select committee is left with no choice but to advance contempt proceedings and recommend that the body in which Mr Meadows once served refer him for criminal prosecution," Thompson said.

In response Meadows reportedly launched a law suit against the committee. Donald Trump and those in his close circle frequently have gone to the courts as a way of drawing out disputes and seeking headlines.

The news comes one day after Meadows indicated he would no longer cooperate with investigators, claiming the committee is disrespecting former president Trump's claims of executive privilege over certain records.

In an abrupt reversal, Meadows attorney George Terwilliger said in a letter that a deposition would be "untenable" because the 6 January panel "has no intention of respecting boundaries" concerning questions that Trump has claimed are off-limits.

Terwilliger also said he learned over the weekend that the committee had issued a subpoena to a third-party communications provider that he said would include "intensely personal" information.