The House select committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob is poised to vote to hold Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, in criminal contempt for defying a subpoena.
In a 51-page report, the bipartisan committee revealed that it has documents showing that Meadows said the National Guard “would be present to ‘protect pro Trump people’” on the day of the attack.
The report, released Sunday evening by Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), lays out the case for a contempt vote and highlights details from documents that Meadows and his lawyer turned over to the investigation before Meadows decided to no longer cooperate with the panel. Among them is the email in which Meadows made the comments about the National Guard, adding that “many more would be available on standby” to protect pro-Trump demonstrators.
The committee is scheduled to vote Monday night on holding Meadows, a former North Carolina congressman, in contempt. The House is likely to vote later this week to approve the resolution, meaning Meadows would face criminal prosecution under the Justice Department.
Last week, Meadows backed away from cooperating with the committee just days after saying he would, arguing that the panel was pressuring him to discuss issues that former president Donald Trump said are protected by executive privilege. However, he had already produced thousands of documents for the panel, including text messages and emails related to the events of the day.
A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 to try to stop the affirmation of Joe Biden’s presidential win, a riot that resulted in five dead and injuries to some 140 members of law enforcement.
A committee vote to hold Meadows in criminal contempt comes after months of negotiations between the panel, the former chief of staff and his lawyer, George Terwilliger III. The select committee has struggled to get those closest to Trump to cooperate with its investigation, including longtime adviser Stephen K. Bannon, who was indicted in November on two counts of contempt by the Justice Department after the House voted to recommend charges against him in October.
Stephen Bannon pleads not guilty to contempt-of-Congress charges
In its report, the committee said it wanted to question Meadows about text messages he exchanged with an unnamed senator about then-Vice President Mike Pence’s power to reject electors. In the messages, Meadows recounted 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,’” to reject electors.
The committee describes Meadows as “one of a relatively small group of people who witnessed the events of January 6 in the White House and with then-President Trump.”
“As the violence at the Capitol unfolded, Mr. Meadows received many messages encouraging him to have Mr. Trump issue a statement that could end the violence,” the committee wrote. “One former White House employee reportedly contacted Mr. Meadows several times and told him, ‘You guys have to say something. Even if the president’s not willing to put out a statement, you should go to the [cameras] and say, “We condemn this. Please stand down.” If you don’t, people are going to die.’”
The committee did not provide more context on Meadows’s communications regarding the National Guard, and it is unclear whether he had been directed by Trump to call on the guard to protect his supporters. On Jan. 5, hours before the attack, Trump told a room of allies that he did not want violence. Several in the room took that to mean he didn’t want counterprotesters fighting his supporters. Moments later, the former president tweeted a condemnation of antifa, demanding that the loosely knit group of far-left activists “stay out of Washington.”
In a Monday morning letter to Thompson, committee vice chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and the rest of the panel, Terwilliger said a referral to hold Meadows in contempt would be “contrary to law.”
“The Select Committee and the House should make no such referral,” Terwilliger said. “I respectfully ask your indulgence to explain why such a referral would be contrary to law, manifestly unjust, unwise, and unfair. It would ill-serve the country to rush to judgment on the matter.”
Terwilliger argued that the contemplated referral would violate the law “because a good-faith invocation of executive privilege and testimonial immunity by a former senior executive official is not a violation of 2 U.S.C. § 192,” the federal statute that authorizes Congress to certify a contempt citation to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
The committee, in its report, said that, if Meadows had appeared for his scheduled deposition on Dec. 8, the panel would have asked him “a series of questions about subjects that we believe are well outside of any claim of executive privilege.” More specifically, the panel said it would have asked him about his use of personal email and cellphones.
Election denier who circulated Jan. 6 PowerPoint says he met with Meadows at White House
The committee also said in its report that Meadows spoke “nonstop” that day with Kashyap Patel, then-chief of staff to acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller. “Among other things, Mr. Meadows apparently knows if and when Mr. Trump was engaged in discussions regarding the National Guard’s response to the Capitol riot,” the committee wrote.
In its report, the committee said it seeks more information from Meadows on text messages he exchanged with the organizer of the Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse that preceded the attack on the Capitol. The organizer texted Meadows that things “have gotten crazy and I desperately need some direction. Please.” The committee also wants to know more about messages Meadows received regarding “apparent efforts” to encourage Republican lawmakers in certain states to send alternate slates of electors to Congress in an attempt to undo Biden’s win. In texts, a member of Congress told Meadows that the plan was “highly controversial,” and Meadows texted back, “I love it.”
The documents also show that Meadows forwarded claims of election fraud to Department of Justice leaders for further investigation — “some of which he may have received using a private email account.”
Meadows, the committee’s report claims, also reportedly introduced Trump to then-DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, who recommended to Trump that he be installed as acting attorney general and that state officials be told to appoint alternate slates of electors.
The then-chief of staff also reportedly “participated in meetings and calls during which the participants reportedly discussed the need to ‘‘fight’ back against ‘mounting evidence’ of purported voter fraud,” according to the panel’s report.
In a 51-page report, the bipartisan committee revealed that it has documents showing that Meadows said the National Guard “would be present to ‘protect pro Trump people’” on the day of the attack.
The report, released Sunday evening by Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), lays out the case for a contempt vote and highlights details from documents that Meadows and his lawyer turned over to the investigation before Meadows decided to no longer cooperate with the panel. Among them is the email in which Meadows made the comments about the National Guard, adding that “many more would be available on standby” to protect pro-Trump demonstrators.
The committee is scheduled to vote Monday night on holding Meadows, a former North Carolina congressman, in contempt. The House is likely to vote later this week to approve the resolution, meaning Meadows would face criminal prosecution under the Justice Department.
Last week, Meadows backed away from cooperating with the committee just days after saying he would, arguing that the panel was pressuring him to discuss issues that former president Donald Trump said are protected by executive privilege. However, he had already produced thousands of documents for the panel, including text messages and emails related to the events of the day.
A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 to try to stop the affirmation of Joe Biden’s presidential win, a riot that resulted in five dead and injuries to some 140 members of law enforcement.
A committee vote to hold Meadows in criminal contempt comes after months of negotiations between the panel, the former chief of staff and his lawyer, George Terwilliger III. The select committee has struggled to get those closest to Trump to cooperate with its investigation, including longtime adviser Stephen K. Bannon, who was indicted in November on two counts of contempt by the Justice Department after the House voted to recommend charges against him in October.
Stephen Bannon pleads not guilty to contempt-of-Congress charges
In its report, the committee said it wanted to question Meadows about text messages he exchanged with an unnamed senator about then-Vice President Mike Pence’s power to reject electors. In the messages, Meadows recounted 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,’” to reject electors.
The committee describes Meadows as “one of a relatively small group of people who witnessed the events of January 6 in the White House and with then-President Trump.”
“As the violence at the Capitol unfolded, Mr. Meadows received many messages encouraging him to have Mr. Trump issue a statement that could end the violence,” the committee wrote. “One former White House employee reportedly contacted Mr. Meadows several times and told him, ‘You guys have to say something. Even if the president’s not willing to put out a statement, you should go to the [cameras] and say, “We condemn this. Please stand down.” If you don’t, people are going to die.’”
The committee did not provide more context on Meadows’s communications regarding the National Guard, and it is unclear whether he had been directed by Trump to call on the guard to protect his supporters. On Jan. 5, hours before the attack, Trump told a room of allies that he did not want violence. Several in the room took that to mean he didn’t want counterprotesters fighting his supporters. Moments later, the former president tweeted a condemnation of antifa, demanding that the loosely knit group of far-left activists “stay out of Washington.”
In a Monday morning letter to Thompson, committee vice chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and the rest of the panel, Terwilliger said a referral to hold Meadows in contempt would be “contrary to law.”
“The Select Committee and the House should make no such referral,” Terwilliger said. “I respectfully ask your indulgence to explain why such a referral would be contrary to law, manifestly unjust, unwise, and unfair. It would ill-serve the country to rush to judgment on the matter.”
Terwilliger argued that the contemplated referral would violate the law “because a good-faith invocation of executive privilege and testimonial immunity by a former senior executive official is not a violation of 2 U.S.C. § 192,” the federal statute that authorizes Congress to certify a contempt citation to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
The committee, in its report, said that, if Meadows had appeared for his scheduled deposition on Dec. 8, the panel would have asked him “a series of questions about subjects that we believe are well outside of any claim of executive privilege.” More specifically, the panel said it would have asked him about his use of personal email and cellphones.
Election denier who circulated Jan. 6 PowerPoint says he met with Meadows at White House
The committee also said in its report that Meadows spoke “nonstop” that day with Kashyap Patel, then-chief of staff to acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller. “Among other things, Mr. Meadows apparently knows if and when Mr. Trump was engaged in discussions regarding the National Guard’s response to the Capitol riot,” the committee wrote.
In its report, the committee said it seeks more information from Meadows on text messages he exchanged with the organizer of the Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse that preceded the attack on the Capitol. The organizer texted Meadows that things “have gotten crazy and I desperately need some direction. Please.” The committee also wants to know more about messages Meadows received regarding “apparent efforts” to encourage Republican lawmakers in certain states to send alternate slates of electors to Congress in an attempt to undo Biden’s win. In texts, a member of Congress told Meadows that the plan was “highly controversial,” and Meadows texted back, “I love it.”
The documents also show that Meadows forwarded claims of election fraud to Department of Justice leaders for further investigation — “some of which he may have received using a private email account.”
Meadows, the committee’s report claims, also reportedly introduced Trump to then-DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, who recommended to Trump that he be installed as acting attorney general and that state officials be told to appoint alternate slates of electors.
The then-chief of staff also reportedly “participated in meetings and calls during which the participants reportedly discussed the need to ‘‘fight’ back against ‘mounting evidence’ of purported voter fraud,” according to the panel’s report.
