Mark Meadows referred to House for DOJ referral

Liz Cheney read out texts Meadows has already handed over but now refuses to testify about.  Read them here.   Even Junior was begging to have Trump call off the capital coup.  Surely he also contacted Daddy directly.  But who knows?

Cheney says:

These non-privileged texts are further evidence of President Trump's supreme dereliction of duty during those 187 minutes. And Mr. Meadows testimony will bear on another key question before this Committee: Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress's official proceeding to count electoral votes? Mark Meadows testimony will inform our legislative judgments.

  NPR

And we all know the answer to that anyway.

Also, now the GOP - and Trump's - line is that this was only a protest by patriots. They obvioiusly didn't think so at the time.

President Trump's appointees at the Justice Department informed him repeatedly that the President's claims of election fraud were not supported by the evidence, and that the election was not, in fact, stolen. President Trump intended to appoint Jeffrey Clark as Attorney General, in part so that Mr. Clark could alter the Department of Justice's conclusions regarding the election. Mr. Clark has now informed the Committee that he anticipates potential criminal prosecution related to these matters and intends in upcoming testimony to invoke his 5th Amendment Privilege against self-incrimination. As Mr. Meadows non-privileged texts reveal, Meadows communicated multiple times with a member of Congress who was working with Clark. Mr. Meadows has no basis to refuse to testify regarding those communications. He is in contempt.

And I want to know who that "member" of Congress is. Mike Lee? One of the more radical assholes? But it does sound like the committee already knows.

The Court of Appeals here in Washington has ruled, quickly, in our favor regarding the Select Committee's work to uncover relevant information. And day by day, we're getting a clearer picture of what happened, who was involved, who paid for it, and where that money went.

So I'm pleased to report we're making swift progress. And before too long, our findings will be out in the open. We will have public hearings. We will tell this story to the American people. But we won't do it piecemeal. We'll do it when we can tell the story all at once, start to finish—not leave anyone guessing and not allowing it to fade into the memory of last week's news. This story is too important. The stakes are too high.

[...]

It comes down to this: Mr. Meadows started by doing the right thing—cooperating. He handed over records that he didn't try to shield behind some excuse. But in an investigation like ours, that's just a first step. When the records raise questions—as these most certainly do—you have to come in and answer those questions. And when it was time for him to follow the law, come in, and testify on those questions, he changed his mind and told us to pound sand. He didn't even show up.

Now, this happened the same day his book was published. The same book that goes into detail about matters the Select Committee is reviewing. It also details conversations he had with President Trump and others—conversations we want to hear more about. He has also appeared on national television discussing the events of January 6th. He has no credible excuse for stonewalling the Select Committee's investigation.

[...]

Our democracy was inches from ruin. Our system of government was stretched to the breaking point. Members and staff were terrorized. Police officers fought hand to hand for hours. People lost their lives.

We want to figure out why and share that information with the American people. And either you're on the side of helping us figure out why... or you're trying to stop us from getting those answers.

[...]

Conclusion: January 6th was without precedent. There has been no stronger case in our nation's history for a congressional investigation into the actions of a former president. This investigation is not like other congressional inquiries. Our Constitution, the structure of our institutions and the rule of law – which are at the heart of what makes America great — are at stake. We cannot be satisfied with incomplete answers, or half-truths; and we cannot surrender to President Trump's efforts to hide what happened. We will be persistent, professional and non-partisan. We must get to the objective truth and ensure that January 6th never happens again.

That's great, Liz. But it won't have to if you guys don't protect the right to vote and the election officials who are being threatened and challenged.

Read Meadows' texts or listen to Liz Cheney read them here.

UPDATE:

The US House of Representatives has approved a measure recommending criminal contempt charges against Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff to Donald Trump, a week after he ended his cooperation with the chamber’s committee investigating the Capitol insurrection.

The approval marks the first time the House has voted to hold a former member in contempt since the 1830s, according to the chamber’s records.

[...]

Republicans on Tuesday called the action against Meadows a distraction from the House’s work, with one member calling it “evil” and “un-American”. Trump has also defended Meadows in an interview, calling him “an honorable man”.

The committee’s leaders have vowed to punish anyone who doesn’t comply with their investigation, and the justice department has already indicted Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon on two counts of contempt after he defied his subpoena. If convicted, Bannon and Meadows could face up to one year behind bars on each charge.

[...]

Meadows himself has sued the panel, asking a court to invalidate two subpoenas that he says are “overly broad and unduly burdensome”.

  Guardian

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.