Patrick Semansky/AP
A day after lawmakers shared an explosive series of text messages sent to Mark Meadows during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the Democratic-led U.S. House voted to hold the former Trump White House chief of staff in criminal contempt of Congress.
The Tuesday evening vote, cast almost completely along party lines, triggers a series of steps to send the referral to the U.S. attorney’s office, leaving the Justice Department to decide whether it will pursue a prosecution in the case.
If so, Meadows could face up a year in jail for each contempt, plus fines.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chair of the select committee investigating the Capitol riot, said Tuesday that it was a “difficult matter” to move forward with the referral, especially as Meadows is a veteran House member from North Carolina.
But as a former lawmaker, Meadows should have been more aware of the consequences for defying a subpoena, Thompson argued.
“There was a steady stream of communication between certain members of Congress and Mr. Meadows about matters central to our investigation,” Thompson said on the House floor ahead of the vote. “We have questions about those communications. We will pursue those questions and we won’t let the facts be buried by a coverup.”
Most Republicans who spoke on the House floor Tuesday rejected the committee’s claims, saying it was an illustration of a partisan attack tied to former President Donald Trump.
“Mark Meadows is our former colleague, he is a good man and he is my friend,” said Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan. “This is as wrong as it gets. You all know it. But your lust for power, your lust to get your opponents is so intense, you don’t care.”
Meadows initially cooperated with the panel, turning over thousands of private emails and text messages, but reversed course last week. A day before he was due to appear for a Dec. 8 deposition, Meadows said he would no longer be cooperating, triggering the committee’s criminal referral process.
“How we address Jan. 6 is the moral test of our generation,” the panel’s ranking Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in floor debate. “It is very sad to see how my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are addressing this issue. Mr. Meadows has refused to testify about non-privileged material, he is contempt.”
On Monday, Cheney shared a litany of text messages she said Meadows received during the Jan. 6 siege. From Fox News personalities to Donald Trump Jr., they all urged Meadows to get then-President Trump to end the violence, she said.
On Tuesday, she read another series of text messages sent by unnamed Republican lawmakers to Meadows:
“It’s really bad up here on the Hill,” read one message, Cheney said.
“The president needs to stop this ASAP,” read another, she said.
“Fix this now,” Cheney read of yet…
Read More: House votes to hold Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress : NPR