The 50-plus page report published by the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 detailed many of the communications sent to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, the committee named names as they held him in contempt on Monday evening.
Reading off some of the documents and the facts uncovered in the 9,000 pages that Meadows provided to the committee, the members of Congress cited everyone from Fox News hosts to Donald Trump Jr., who begged the president to stop the attacks.
It drove many legal experts to question the actions of the former Republican Congressman. For example: why would Meadows stop cooperating once the committee subpoenaed the metadata from his carrier? The text messages were already turned over to the committee, but as impeachment lawyer Daniel Goldman and analyst Harry Litman pointed out, the data is what spooked Meadows. They wondered why and what he could be hiding.
Others noted that so much of the information gleaned from the Jan. 6 probe wasn't available when Trump was impeached for a second time. One optimistic analyst wondered if it would have made any difference to the GOP senators if those had been read into the record.
Political analyst Bill Kristol noted that Meadows' exchange with Donald Trump Jr. was among the most telling text messages because it confirmed that President "Trump knew what was happening, and he refused to act. He was pro-insurrection."
See all of the comments below:
totally think that's what made him balk. He cited it in the letter, when it really has nothing to do with anything. And more telling, his lawsuit (an odd thing for him to do in the first place) is 80% about trying to quash the subpoena to the third party.https://twitter.com/danielsgoldman/status/1470588696034426883\u00a0\u2026— Harry Litman (@Harry Litman) 1639455478
not to mention why did he give up his phone, with the 1000 texts on it in the first place?https://twitter.com/danielsgoldman/status/1470588696034426883\u00a0\u2026— Harry Litman (@Harry Litman) 1639455505
This is a great point. How long does that take??— Asha Rangappa (@Asha Rangappa) 1639449558
Interesting thing about tweets @RepLizCheney read tonite is that GOP legislators/media folks took as gospel that Trump & Trump alone could call off the mob. They were his to command. Cheney raising the notion that by failing to stop them, Trump impeded Congress (could be a crime)— Joyce Alene (@Joyce Alene) 1639452147
.@BennieGThompson on @TheLastWord: \u201cWe will have public hearings in first quarter of next year. We\u2019ve been scouring the country for information. We want to get it right. We\u2019re taking our time. We understand urgency of moment but we\u2019ve got to get it right.\u201d— Leslie Proll (@Leslie Proll) 1639451747
Pretty bizarre when Don, Jr. is the voice of reason.https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1470550603378171904\u00a0\u2026— Elizabeth de la Vega (@Elizabeth de la Vega) 1639451556
Knowing FOR SURE that Trump was behind the Jan 6 Capitol, insurrection, Fox News talking heads texted Mark Meadows urging Trump to tell his terrorist mob to go home. \n\nThey then proceeded to lie on the air on Fox that same day that it was antifa who attacked the Capitol.— Beki Knott (@Beki Knott) 1639450650
Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr, thoughts on these texts to Dad's COS Mark Meadows on January 6?\n\n"He's got to condemn this shit. . . .The Capitol Police tweet is not enough."— Jennifer Taub (@Jennifer Taub) 1639447821
Don Jr. texts Meadows, "He's got to condemn this shit ASAP." Meadows responds: \u201cI'm pushing it hard."\n\nIn other words, Meadows was talking to Trump and pushing him to stop the insurrection. Trump refused. Trump knew was happening, and he refused to act. He was pro-insurrection.— Bill Kristol (@Bill Kristol) 1639447483
Imagine if these texts had been in the record of Trump\u2019s second impeachment trial\u2026https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/1470551957093994497\u00a0\u2026— Steve Vladeck (@Steve Vladeck) 1639453903
The powerpoint @MarkMeadows gave the #Jan6thCommittee presents an interesting similarity to #Watergate. Like #OperationGemstone that was presented to Nixon's AG laying out the Watergate DNC break-in, here the crimes of Jan 6 were laid out in the PPT and given to Trump's CofS.— Jill Wine-Banks (@Jill Wine-Banks) 1639449065
BREAKING: Rep. @Liz_Cheney hints at where this is going: federal criminal charges for President Trump.\n\n"Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress\u2019s proceedings?"\n\nShe is reading 18 U.S.C. 1505— Spiro Agnew\u2019s Ghost (@Spiro Agnew\u2019s Ghost) 1639443063
Mark Meadows\u2019 actions demonstrate his\u00a0contempt for Congress, for the @January6thCmte, for his former colleagues, and for the integrity of the democratic process. His stonewalling forced us to take this action tonight\u2014because no one is above the law.— Adam Kinzinger (@Adam Kinzinger) 1639445037
