Jan. 6 panel votes for contempt charges against Mark Meadows

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WASHINGTON – The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection voted Monday to urge contempt charges against erstwhile White House main of unit Mark Meadows arsenic lawmakers request his grounds astir then-President Donald Trump’s actions earlier and during the attack.

“Whatever bequest helium thought helium near successful the House, this is his bequest now,” committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said of Meadows — a erstwhile Republican congressman from North Carolina — successful his opening remarks. “His erstwhile colleagues singling him retired for transgression prosecution due to the fact that helium wouldn’t reply questions astir what helium knows astir a brutal onslaught connected our democracy. That’s his legacy.”

The committee voted 9-0 to determination guardant with transgression charges against Meadows, who declined to look for a deposition past week. Lawmakers had planned to inquire astir Trump’s efforts to overturn the predetermination successful the weeks earlier the insurrection, including Meadows’ outreach to states and his communications with members of Congress.

Trump’s erstwhile apical White House adjutant “is uniquely situated to supply cardinal information, having straddled an authoritative relation successful the White House and unofficial relation related to Mr. Trump’s reelection campaign,” the sheet said successful a 51-page study released Sunday evening.

The study elaborate the questions lawmakers person astir the thousands of emails and texts Meadows had provided to the committee earlier helium ended his practice — including 6,600 pages of records taken from idiosyncratic email accounts and astir 2,000 substance messages.

The sheet has not released each the documents, but the study says they see exchanges astir Meadows efforts’ to assistance Trump overturn his decision successful the statesmanlike election, communications with members of Congress and organizers of a rally held the greeting of the insurrection and frantic messages among aides and others arsenic the violent attack unfolded that day.

Rep. Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chair, elaborate connected Monday a bid of substance messages Meadows received connected Jan. 6 from a slew of people, including Fox News anchors and Donald Trump Jr. In the texts, allies and those successful Trump’s interior ellipse attempted to scope Trump done his main of staff, imploring him to instrumentality enactment against the unit that was taking spot extracurricular and wrong the Capitol.

“He’s got to condemn this ... Asap,” Trump Jr. wrote. “The Capitol Police tweet is not enough.”

Meadows responded, saying, “I’m pushing it hard. I agree.”

“Hey Mark, the president needs to archer radical successful the Capitol to spell location ... this is hurting each of america ... helium is destroying his legacy,” Fox News big Laura Ingraham texted Meadows.

“Please get him connected tv. Destroying everything you person accomplished,” Brian Kilmeade wrote.

As portion of its database of questions for Meadows, the sheet says it wants to cognize much astir whether Trump was engaged successful discussions regarding the response of the National Guard, which was delayed for hours arsenic the unit escalated and the rioters bushed police guarding the Capitol building.

The documents provided by Meadows see an email helium sent to an unidentified idiosyncratic saying that the Guard would beryllium contiguous to “protect pro Trump people," the sheet said, and that much would beryllium disposable connected standby. The committee did not merchandise immoderate further details astir the email.

The contempt ballot is coming aft much than 2 months of negotiations with Meadows and his lawyer and arsenic the sheet has besides struggled to get accusation from immoderate of Trump’s different apical aides, specified arsenic his longtime state Steve Bannon. The House voted to urge charges against Bannon successful October, and the Justice Department indicted him connected 2 counts of contempt past month.

The sheet is aiming to make the astir broad grounds yet of the attack, successful which hundreds of Trump’s supporters forced their mode past instrumentality enforcement officers, broke into the Capitol and interrupted the certification of Biden’s victory. Meadows’ grounds could beryllium key, arsenic helium was Trump’s apical adjutant astatine the clip and was with him successful the White House arsenic the rioters breached the Capitol building.

In a Monday missive to Thompson, Meadows’ lawyer George Terwilliger said the contempt ballot would beryllium “unjust” due to the fact that Meadows was 1 of Trump's apical aides and each presidents should beryllium afforded enforcement privilege to shield their backstage conversations. Meadows himself sued the panel, asking a tribunal to invalidate 2 subpoenas that helium says are “overly wide and unduly burdensome.”

Terwilliger noted that the contempt statute has been utilized infrequently implicit clip and argued that a contempt referral of a elder statesmanlike adjutant “would bash large harm to the instauration of the Presidency."

In a transcript of the deposition that Meadows skipped, released arsenic portion of Sunday's report, an unnamed subordinate of the panel’s investigative unit elaborate respective of the questions helium would person been asked had helium shown up.

Many of the questions halfway connected Trump’s efforts to overturn the predetermination successful the weeks earlier the insurrection, including Meadows’ outreach to states and his communications with members of Congress.

Committee unit said they would person interviewed Meadows astir emails “to enactment astatine the Department of Justice connected December 29th and 30th, 2020, and January 1st, 2021, encouraging investigations of suspected elector fraud,” adjacent though predetermination officials and courts crossed the state had rejected those claims.

The sheet said Meadows besides provided substance messages sent to and from members of Congress “before, during, and aft the onslaught connected the United States Capitol." One speech with a lawmaker acrophobic efforts to interaction legislators successful states, too, astir the predetermination due to the fact that Trump "wants to chat with them.”

In a substance speech with an unidentified senator, the committee said, Meadows said Trump believed Vice President Mike Pence had powerfulness to cull electors successful his relation presiding implicit the Jan. 6 certification. Pence did not person that powerfulness nether the law, arsenic the vice president’s relation is mostly ceremonial.

A Nov. 6, 2020, substance speech betwixt Meadows and an unidentified subordinate of Congress, the committee said, was astir appointing alternate electors successful definite states, a program the subordinate said would beryllium “highly controversial.” The committee said that Meadows replied, "I emotion it.’”

In different texts, sent the time of the attack, Meadows' erstwhile colleagues encouraged him to impulse Trump to discourage the violence, the committee said. Similarly, successful an speech with an organizer of the rally that greeting — a gathering successful which Trump told his supporters to “fight similar hell” — the organizer told Meadows that they “desperately” needed absorption from him due to the fact that things “have gotten crazy.”

The panel’s expected ballot to urge charges of contempt of Congress would nonstop the referral to the afloat House, which could ballot arsenic soon arsenic this week to nonstop it to the Justice Department. The section would past determine whether to prosecute.

Thompson and the committee’s Republican vice chairwoman, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, said past week that Meadows' suit “won’t win astatine slowing down the Select Committee’s probe oregon stopping america from getting the accusation we’re seeking.”

The sheet has already interviewed astir 300 witnesses, and lawmakers accidental they program a bid of hearings aboriginal adjacent twelvemonth to marque galore of their findings public.

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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

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