House votes to hold Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress
The House late Tuesday night voted to hold former President Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena to appear before the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. 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.
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.
Cheney and Kinzinger are only Republicans who join all Democrats in recommending contempt charge
Just two Republicans, Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who are both on the House January 6 select committee, joined with the Democrats to recommend Meadows be held in contempt.
The final vote was 222-208.
House begins voting on Meadows resolution
Around 10:40 p.m. ET, the House began voting on the resolution to hold Meadows in contempt.
The House had engaged in a lengthy debate about a bill aimed at Islamophobia called the Combating International Islamophobia Act. Earlier Tuesday, the House voted to adopt the rule to increase the debt limit.
Lawmakers, Fox hosts, Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows to stop Capitol riot
Representative Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the House committee investigating the January 6th assault on the Capitol, revealed text messages that former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows received during the attack. Plus, Democrats aim to pass a major social spending deal. CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe, CBS News political contributor and Associated Press White House reporter Zeke Miller, and Wall Street Journal Capitol Hill reporter Siobhan Hughes join CBSN "Red and Blue" anchor Elaine Quijano with the latest.
January 6 committee members read more of Meadows' texts
In front of posters showing texts, members of the January 6 select committee read more of the texts that he turned over. On January 2, a Georgia government official texted "need to end this call" and "I don't think this will be productive much longer," Representative Zoe Lofgren read.
Representative Adam Schiff read a text from an unnamed government official saying "I heard Jeff Clark is getting put in on Monday. That's amazing. It will make a lot of patriots happy. " A report from the Senate Judiciary committee says Clark, who was at the Justice Department, attempted to use federal resources to delay the certification of 2020 election results.
Congressman Jamie Raskin message from an unknown lawmaker on November 4. "HERE's an AGGRESSIVE STRATEGY: Why can't [sic] the states of GA NC PENN and other R controlled state houses declare this is BS (where conflicts and election not called that night) and just send their own electors to vote and have it go to the SCOTUS."
— Zak Hudak and Caroline Linton
Republicans ask for Hoyer's comments during debate to be taken down
Republicans declared Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's remarks during earlier debate on the House floor to be offensive, and asked for them to be stricken from the record.
Republican Congressman Scott Perry accused Hoyer of "disparaging" GOP Congressman Jim Banks.
Earlier in the day, Hoyer said Banks "does not want to see this subpoena honored, because I believe he fears the information that will be brought forward."
McConnell said he was not in contact with Meadows on January 6
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he was not in contact with Meadows on January 6, but he said "I do think we are all watching as you are what is unfolding on the House side and it will be interesting to reveal all the participants who were involved."
While McConnell was not one of the seven Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, McConnell gave a speech on the Senate floor after the vote that said Trump was " "practically and morally responsible" for the attack.
— Jack Turman and Caroline Linton
Keith Kellogg, former national security adviser to Pence, appears before committee
Keith Kellogg, who served as the national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, is sitting for a deposition with the January 6 select committee Tuesday.
"It's all friendly," his attorney told CBS News during a break in the meeting, noting Kellogg was complying with a subpoena issued by the committee last month. He said Kellogg was testifying about "what happened" on January 6th.
The committee is particularly interested in Kellogg's testimony because he was reportedly in the White House with former President Donald Trump as the attack on the U.S. Capitol unfolded. The panel believes he had "direct information" about the former President's statements about, and his reaction to, the riots, according to a letter announcing the subpoena.
The letter also cited reports Kellogg met with Trump and others prior to a rally at the Ellipse on January 6, where the former president spoke. Kellogg also reportedly urged the former president after the rally to send out a tweet to his supporters to help control the crowd at the Capitol.
Scalise encourages Republicans to vote no
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise is encouraging GOP members to vote against the contempt resolution. There are only two Republicans on the Democratic-led commission, Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom voted to impeach former President Donald Trump. They both voted on Monday night to recommend contempt charges.
— Zak Hudak and Caroline Linton
Meadows' attorney: He never "stopped cooperating"
Meadows' attorney, George J. Terwilliger, issued a statement on Monday saying that Meadows never "stopped cooperating as is widely reported." Terwilliger insisted Meadows has "fully cooperated" as to "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."
Terwilliger said that Meadows, as a former chief of staff, is not "licensed to waive Executive Privilege claimed by the former president."
President Biden has waived Trump's claims of executive privilege.
— Ellis Kim and Caroline Linton
Conservative activist Dustin Stockton sits for interview with committee
Conservative activist Dustin Stockton met with the January 6 committee on Tuesday. Stockton, who organized earlier rallies but was pushed out of the organizing of the January 6 rally, did not have direct contact with Meadows or anyone at the White House.
Stockton's lawyer Josh Nass said he would fully comply with his subpoena, including by sharing a "treasure trove" of documents and providing testimony. Nass said he believes Stockton's testimony will "prove to be very illuminating" for the committee.
Nass said there are people "very senior in the former president's orbit" and lawmakers who he believes have "good reason" to be "quivering in their boots" right now. He said the documents include all kinds of communication, such as email correspondences and texts.
Fox News hosts urged Meadows to push Trump to stop January 6 attack, texts show
Three hosts from Fox News and the president's eldest son privately implored then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to push the president to call for an end to the mayhem, according to text messages revealed by the House select committee probing the Capitol assault.
The messages, read aloud by Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming on Monday night, were among the roughly 9,000 pages of emails and text messages Meadows turned over to the House panel before he stopped cooperating with investigators.
"These non-privileged texts are further evidence of President Trump's supreme dereliction of duty during those 187 minutes," Cheney said.
The messages made public by the committee were sent to Meadows as the violence unfolded at the Capitol building and came from Fox News hosts' Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Brian Kilmeade.
"Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy," Ingraham texted Meadows, as read by Cheney.
Read more here.