Mark Meadows, a member of the White House staff, has been charged with contempt of Congress for refusing to appear before a House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
The final vote was 222-208. Just two Republicans, Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, joined with all Democrats.
The matter will now be turned over to the Justice Department. In October, the House already recommended that former Trump adviser Steve Bannon be held in contempt for refusing to comply with the subpoena. The Justice Department then charged him with two counts of contempt. He has pleaded not guilty but faces up to a year in prison on each charge if convicted.
- UNESCO Representative visits Northern Regional Minister
- OSP to begin corruption risk assessment for public entities from January 2022
On Monday night, Cheney, who is on the January 6 committee, read aloud texts sent to Meadows on January 6 by Donald Trump, Jr. and Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Brian Kilmeade and Laura Ingraham.
“These non-privileged texts are further evidence of President Trump’s supreme dereliction of duty during those 187 minutes,” Cheney said.
“He’s got to condemn this s**t ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough,” Trump Jr. wrote, as read by Cheney. In a tweet from his now-banned account, the president told his supporters just after 2:30 p.m. on January 6 to “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!”
Meadows responded, “I’m pushing it hard. I agree.”
Members of the committee read more texts on Tuesday before the full House, including one from a member of Congress saying it was “amazing” that Jeffrey Clark had been “put in.”
Meadows had at first partially cooperated with the committee, handing over some email and text message records, but he failed to sit for a deposition last week and refused to turn over a slew of other documents, citing former Trump’s claims of privilege.
Meadows’ attorney, George J. Terwilliger, claimed in a statement Tuesday that Meadows had never “stopped cooperating as is widely reported.” He insisted Meadows has “fully cooperated,” noting that he has provided “documents in his possession that are not privileged and has sought various means to provide other information while continuing to honor the former president’s privilege claims.”
Among the documents Meadows gave the committee was a PowerPoint presentation titled “Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for JAN 6,” which was initially intended to be distributed to members of Congress, Thompson noted in a letter to Terwilliger last week.
Meadows also wrote in a January 5 email that the National Guard would be present in Washington the following day “to protect pro Trump people,” according to the contempt report.
The contempt report also described a January 5 email in which Meadows said the National Guard would be present in Washington the following day “to protect pro Trump people.” The committee wrote that Meadows said many more Guardsmen would be on standby, but it did not offer other details about the exchange.
The committee also attached to the report a transcript of the questions they would have asked Meadows had he shown up. The transcript cited text messages between Meadows and a senator in which they discussed then Vice President Mike Pence’s “power to reject electors” thereby potentially changing the outcome of the election. In one of the texts, Meadows “recounts a direct communication with President Trump who, according to Mr. Meadows in his text messages, quote, ‘thinks the legislators have the power, but the VP has power too,’ end quote.”
The committee has issued subpoenas to several other members of Trump’s inner circle, including former top adviser Stephen Miller and former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
Conservative activist Dustin Stockton, who promoted rallies leading up to January 6 although not the Stop the Steal rally itself, and Keith Kellogg, national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, both sat for interviews with the January 6 select committee on Tuesday.
The House select committee, created by Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this year, is investigating the January 6 attack, when thousands of Trump supporters descended on the Capitol as Congress counted the electoral votes, a largely ceremonial final step affirming Mr. Biden’s victory. Lawmakers were sent fleeing amid the riot, which led to the deaths of five people and the arrests of hundreds more. Trump, who encouraged his supporters to “walk over” to the Capitol during the Stop the Steal rally, was impeached by the House one week later for inciting the riot but was later acquitted by the Senate.
