Mark Meadows trial, Many lawmakers texted former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack in the emergency saying they were “under siege” and “helpless” as was revealed by Rep. Liz Cheney on Monday.
Before Meadows stopped coordinating the House select committee inquiring about the Capitol riot asserting that his records were safe under the privilege of an executive, he delivered several emails and text messages to the panel. Cheney, who is the vice-chair of the committee, went through many such messages on Monday before the panel decided to hold Meadows in contempt for not adhering to their subpoena.
About the messages sent to Meadows
She shared different messages sent to Meadows from the hosts of Fox News and former President Donald Trump’s eldest son, all of whom were requesting Meadows to ask the President to order his supporters who were rioting at the Capitol.
She also read text messages sent from unknown lawmakers during the disturbance which Cheney stated “leave no doubt” that the “White House exactly knew what was happening here at the Capitol.”
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In one text Cheney said, “We are under siege here at the Capitol.” Another stated, “Mark, protesters are literally storming the Capitol, breaking windows on doors, rushing in. Is Trump going to say something?” Another lawmaker said, “We are all helpless.”
Text messages were also sent on January 7th from lawmakers who tried to stop the certification of President Biden’s victory in 2020 with one saying, “We tried everything we could in our objection to the six states. I’m sorry nothing worked.”
Statements from the members of the inquiry committee
Rep. Adam Schiff who was a member of the inquiry committee said before the vote of contempt that he was “particularly struck” by the lawmakers who asked Meadows to help them during the Capitol attack.
He asked, “How did Meadows react to these cries for help? Whom did he tell? What did he do? And critically, what did the president of the U.S. do and what did he fail to do?”
The head of the inquiry committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson told the reporters that he was not going to divulge the name of the lawmakers who texted Meadows during that time but their identities will be declared in due course of time.
He added, “The information we’ve received has been quite revealing about members of Congress involved in the activities of Jan. 6, as well as staff.”