The US House of Representatives is poised to vote on Tuesday to keep Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of crime, as newly revealed text messages provide new details about what’s going on. happens inside Trump’s White House in time January 6 riots in the Capitol.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is expected to vote in favor of advancing criminal proceedings against Meadows after the one-time congressman stopped cooperating with a congressional committee investigating the June 6 attacks. January. The panel voted unanimously Monday night to scorn Meadows for his lack of cooperation with their probe.
A full vote in the House would mark an escalation, taking the matter to the US Justice Department, which will consider proceeding with criminal charges against the former White House chief of staff. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former political adviser, has last month indicted by a federal grand jury for contempt of Congress after he failed to comply with a subpoena issued by the committee on January 6.
The actions against Meadows come amid an uproar over text messages shedding light on how Trump’s allies responded to the attack on the Capitol, which left at least five people dead and disrupted operations. Joe Biden’s election victory certificate.
In a document released by the committee January 6, Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, texted Meadows urging his father to speak before the nation while the attack was ongoing.
“We need an Oval Office address. He has to take the lead now. It went too far. And got out of hand,” wrote the younger Trump.
Several Fox News personalities, including Laura Ingraham, Brian Kilmeade and Sean Hannity, also pleaded with Meadows to intervene, the texts show.
“Mark, the president needs to tell the people at the Capitol to go home. This is hurting us all. He is destroying his legacy,” Ingraham wrote.
Hannity said: “Can he put out a statement asking everyone to leave the Capitol?”
Liz Cheney, a Republican congresswoman from Wyoming who is vice chair of the committee January 6, read aloud some of the texts during Monday night’s hearing, before the panel voted to bring in contempt charges. often. Cheney is one of two Republicans, along with Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, to sit on the committee, after House Republican leaders refused to participate.
The vote against Meadows marks the latest turning point in a politically fraught process that has raised rifts between Democrats and Republicans over their handling of the former president. Earlier this year, Trump was impeached for his role in the attack, but not found guilty of inciting sedition following a Senate trial.
Trump was not at the Capitol on January 6, but staged a rally on the national mall hours before the attack, where he told a crowd of his supporters: “If you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country anymore no.”
Meadows was Trump’s fourth and final chief of staff. His relationship with the committee on January 6 became strained after he initially refused to cooperate, then began sharing documents with the committee before withdrawing his support.
Meadows’ latest U-turn comes after Trump was said to have been outraged by passages in the chief of staff’s upcoming memoir in which he alleges that the then-president was intentionally tested. tested positive for Covid-19 before the televised debate with Biden.
Trump, who is mulling another bid for the White House in 2024, urged his allies not to comply with the Jan. 6 committee, which also issued subpoenas to top advisers. Heads include Stephen Miller, Kayleigh McEnany and Bill Stepien.
