A House panel investigating the January 6 Capitol uprising voted on December 13 to recommend contempt charges against former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows after lawmakers found a list of frantic texts he received during the attack. series revealed.
Texts provided before Mr. Meadows ceased to cooperate with the committee revealed that members of Congress, Fox News The anchors and even President Donald Trump’s own son were urging Mr Meadows to prompt Trump to act quickly to prevent a siege by his supporters.
“We need an Oval Address,” Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows as his father’s supporters barged into the Capitol, making lawmakers run for their lives and obstructing President Joe Biden’s certification of victory. Were were “He has to lead now. It’s gone too far and got out of hand.”
“They have to condemn this s– ASAP,” Trump Jr. said.
The panel’s vice president, Republican Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, detailed texts received by the committee as the panel voted to recommend charges of contempt against Meadows, who did not turn up for a statement last week. When his lawyer said he would stop cooperating.
The panel voted 9-0 to recommend the charges of contempt. The House is expected to vote on December 14 to refer the charges to the Justice Department, which will decide whether to prosecute the former Republican Congressman.
Ms Cheney said the texts showed Trump’s “highest disgrace” as he refused to strongly condemn his supporters’ violence, and also questioned whether he sought to obstruct Congress’s certification through inaction. Had it.
“There is no doubt in these texts,” said Ms Cheney. “The White House knew what was happening at the Capitol.”
The vote comes as the panel has already interviewed more than 300 witnesses, and summoned more than 40, as it seeks to set the most comprehensive record yet for rebellions and violent sieges. Committee leaders have vowed to punish anyone who doesn’t comply, and the Justice Department has already indicted Trump aide Steve Bannon when he rejected his subpoena this fall.
Committee chairman Benny Thompson, D-Miss., said of Meadows before the vote, “Whatever he thought he had left in the House, it is now his legacy.” “His former allies put him out for criminal prosecution because he will not answer questions about what they know about the brutal attack on our democracy. That is his legacy.”
In a December 13 letter to Mr Thompson, Mr Meadows’ attorney George Terwilliger said the contempt vote would be “unjust” because Meadows was one of Trump’s top aides and all presidents have executive privileges to protect their private conversations. must be given. Mr Meadows himself sued the panel, asking a court to invalidate the two summonses, which he says are “overly broad and unnecessarily cumbersome.”
Mr Terwilliger noted that the contempt statute has been used repeatedly over time and argued that a contempt referral from a senior presidential aide “would do great harm to the institution of the Presidency.”
The committee has gradually teased some of the emails and texts Mr. Meadows provided to the committee before ending its cooperation – which included 6,600 pages of records taken from personal email accounts and nearly 2,000 text messages. The panel has not released any communication in full.
On December, Cheney read to Trump Jr. and a series of Fox News hosts as people in Trump’s inner circle attempted to reach out to the president through his chief of staff, asking him to take action against the violence erupting outside. asked for. And inside the Capitol.
“Hey Mark, the President needs to tell the people at the Capitol to go home… It’s hurting all of us… He’s destroying his legacy,” Fox News Host Laura Ingraham texted Meadows, according to the committee.
“Please bring him on TV. You destroyed everything you got,” wrote Brian Kilmeade.
In response to a text from Trump Jr., Meadows wrote: “I’m taking it hard. I agree.”
Cheney also detailed texts he said were from members of Congress and others in the Capitol.
“Hey, Mark, the protesters are literally storming the Capitol,” read one text. “Breaking the windows at the doors. Running inside. Is Trump going to say anything?”
Another appeared to be coming from a member in the chamber of the House. According to the panel, “There is an armed standoff at the door of the House Chamber,” the text read.
If Mr. Meadows had appeared for his statement, lawmakers had planned to ask him about Trump’s attempts to reverse the election in the weeks before the rebellion, including his access to states and his interactions with members of Congress. communication was involved.
Mr Trump’s former top White House aides are “uniquely positioned to provide critical information, an official role in the White House and an informal role relating to Mr Trump’s re-election campaign,” the panel said Sunday evening. – Said in the report of the page. ,
As part of its list of questions for Meadows, the panel says it wanted to know more about whether Trump was engaged in discussions about the National Guard’s response, which was delayed for hours as violence escalated. Hui and the rioters beat up the police guarding the Capitol. building.
Documents provided by Mr Meadows included an email sent to an unidentified person saying the guard would be there “to protect pro-Trump people”, and more would be available on standby, the panel said. The committee did not release any additional details about the email.
In a transcript of the statement left by Mr Meadows, committee staff said they would have interviewed Mr Meadows about emails “on December 29 and December 30, 2020, and January 1, 2021 to lead the Department of Justice Encouraging investigation of suspected voters. fraud,” even though election officials and courts across the country have dismissed those claims.
In a text exchange with an unnamed senator, the committee said, Mr. Meadows said Mr. Trump believed that Vice President Mike Pence would have voters disallowed in his role presiding over the January 6 certification. had the power to do so.
Mr. Pence did not have that power under the law, as the Vice President’s function is largely ceremonial.
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