wrapups of either palestinian question or more pressing issue of iran, wolf. >> i suspect they talked about it privately. didn't make mention of it in the public statement. thank you very much. and to the viewers, thanks very much for watching. i am wolf blitzer in the situation room. and our out front starts right now. good evening, out front tonight we are standing by for a viewing vote. any minute members of the january 6th select committee are spec to recommend that the full house find donald trump's former chief of staff mark meadows, in contempt of congress for defying a subpoena. we will bring you that vote live. it is expected to start as i said, any minute from now. we are learning that we could hear from other members of the select committee. the other contempt votes you may have seen watching the show you didn't see that, it was the chairman and vice chair

chairman tomppson and vice chair cheney. tonight we are hearing from an aide to benny thompson that he will recognize any member of the committee who wishes to speak on the resolution. you can see them walking out to take their seat. so, just to let everyone know, as they do so, mark meadows is at the heart of the investigation. deeply involved in former president trump's efforts to overturn election. literally by trump's side during the insurrection and the stone walling is an about face. what they will is presumably things we haven't seen in the document they put out. they put out a 55 page document in his contempts and what he provide. he provided 6,000 pages of documents to the committee before he decided he was not going to talk about them or provide anything more. and those documents include a messuage and january 5th claiming the national guard will be present to protect pro trump people. and just moments we expect to learn more live about what's in the documents and we could be hearing that from the other

committee members. so, as they are all seated, i don't know if -- he just gavel in so let's start listening. >> united states capitol would be in order. the select committee is meeting this evening to consider a report on the resolution recommending the house of representatives finds mark randall meadows in contempt of congress for refusal to comply with a subpoena duly issued about the select committee to investigate january 6th attack on the united states capitol. without objection the chair is authorized to declare the committee and recess at any time. i will recognize myself for an opening statement. before i start, my statement, let me on behalf of the committee, add our condolences and prayers to the people of kentucky and surrounding states

on the devastation they have received during the tornadoes. our hearts and prayers go out to all of those impacted. this week, i expect that roughly a dozen key witnesses will provide testimony on the record in our investigation. we will hear from many more informally as we continue to gather facts about the violence of january 6th and the causes. that should put us way up north of the 300 mark in terms of witnesses who have given us information. add to that more than 30,000 records and nearly 250 tips on our tip line and anyone listening at home tonight, if you have any information, you want to share with us, you can find our tip line on the select

committee's website. january 6th.house.gov. the court of appeals in washington has ruled quickly in our favor regarding the select committee's work to uncover relevant information on and day to day we are getting a clearer picture of what happened, who was involved, and who paid for it and where the money went. i am pleased to report we are 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 piece mill. we will do it when we can tell the story all at once from start to finish. not leaving anyone guessing and not allowing it to fade into the memories of last week's news. the story is too important. the stakes are too high, and we have to do this job right. and that means we have to

address the handful of outliers, soberly and appropriately. that's why we are here this evening. the select committee's report referring mr. meadows for criminal contempt charges is clear and compelling. as white house chief of staff, mr. meadows played a role in or was witness to key events leading up to and including the january 6th assault on the united states capitol. don't let lawsuits or op eds but executive privileges about mr. meadows or his representatives confuse you. 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 the first step. when the records raise questions as these most certainly do, you have to come

in and answer the questions. and when it is time for him to follow the law, come in and testify on those questions. he changed his mind. and he told us to pound sand. he didn't even show up. now, this happened the same day this 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, covers conversations we want to hear more about. he had also appeared on national television discussing the events of january 6th. he has no credible excuse for stonewalling the select committee's investigation. we did receive another letter today. from mr. meadows' attorney asking that we not hold this --

his client in criminal contempt. without objection, that letter will be made part of the record. a small group of people have gotten a lot of attention because of their defiance. but many others have taken a different path and provided important information about january 6th and the context in which the riot occurred. anyone who wants to cooperate with our investigation can do so. nearly everyone has. 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. the select committee recently toured the capitol and saw firsthand what our brave capitol police had to endure and heard them say if it had

not been for the metropolitan police arrival, rioters would have succeeded. god only know what the outcome would have been if that occurred. we want to figure out why and share that information with the american people. either you are on the side of helping us figure out why, or you are trying to stop us from getting those answers. you can parade out whatever arguments you want, but really, that's all there is to it. and in real life, there are not a lot of bright line moments. this is one of them. and if you are listening at home, mr. meadows, mr. bannon, mr. clarke, i want you to know this. history will be written about these times, about the work this committee has undertaken, and history will not look upon any of you as martyrs. history will not look upon you as a victim. history will not gil dwell on

your list of privileged claims or your legal slight of hand. history will record that in a critical moment, in our democracy, most people were on the side of finding the truth or providing accountability, of strengthening our system for future generations. and history will also record in this critical moment that some people would not, some people hid behind excuses, went to great lengths to avoid answering questions and explaining what they had done and what they knew. i predict that history won't be kind to those people. what's especially jarring about the referral we are considering tonight is that mr. meadows was a member of this body for more than seven years. he was a leading voice in certain corners even briefly the ranking member of the oversight and reform committee. it's not hard to locate records of his time in the house, and

find mr. meadows full of indignation because at the time, a pride advation was not was not cooperating with an investigation into his saturdays fact. this is his legacy his former colleagues singling him out for criminal prosecution he wouldn't answer questions about what he knows about a brutal attack on our democracy. that is his legacy. but he is hasn't left us any choice. mr. meadows put himself in this situation and he must now accept the consequences. i will support the select committee's adoption of this report, recommending the house fight mark randall meadows for contempt of congress and refer him to the department of justice for prosecution. i will yield to a distinguished

leader of the select committee mr. cheney of wyoming for any opening remarks she cares to make. >> thank you, very much, mr. chairman. we are here to address a very serious matter. contempt of congress by a former chief of staff to former president of the united states. we do not do this lightly. and indeed, we hoped not to take this step at all. for weeks, as the chairman noted, we worked with mr. meadows' council to reach an agreement on cooperation. but shortly before his scheduled deposition, mr. meadows walked away from his commitment to appear. and informed us he would no longer cooperate. we believe mr. meadows is improperly asserting executive and other privileges, but this vote on contempt today relates principally to mr. meadows' refusal to testify about text messages and other

communications that he admits are not privileged. he has not claimed and does not have any privilege basis to refuse entirely to testify regarding the topics. let mow give just three examples. first, president trump's failure to stop the violence. on january 6th, our capitol building was attacked and invaded. the mob was summoned to washington by president trump. and as many of those involved have admitted, on videotape, in social media, and in federal district court, they were provoked to violence by president trump's false claims that the election was stolen. the violence was evidence to all, it was covered in roll time by almost newschannel. for 187 minutes, president trump refused to act. when action by our president

was required, essential and indeed compelled by his oath to our constitution. mr. meadows received numerous text messages which he has produced without any privilege claim implore mr. trump take a specific action we all knew his duty required. the text messages leave no doubt that the white house knew exactly what was happening here at the capitol. members of congress, the press, and others wrote to mark meadows as the attack was underway. one text mr. meadows received said "we are under siege here at the capitol. and another, "they have breached the capitol." and in a third, mark, protesters are literally storming the capitol. breaking windows on doors, rushing in.

is trump going to say something? a fourth, there's an armed stand off at the house chamber door. and another, from someone inside the capitol. we are all helpless. dozens of texts including from trump administration officials, urged immediate action by the president. "potus has to come out firmly and tell the protesters to dissipate. someone is going to get killed. in another. mark, he needs to stop this now. a third in all caps, tell them to go home. a fourth, and i quote, potus needs to calm this down. and indeed, according to the records, multiple fox news hosts knew the president needed

to act immediately. they texted mr. meadows and he has turned over the texts. "mark, the president needs to tell people in the capitol to go home. this is hurting all of us. he is destroying his legacy. laura ingram wrote. please, get him on tv. dedestroying everything you accomplished ryan texted. ", can he make a statement, ask people to leave the capitol. sean hannity urged. as the violence continued, one of the president's sons texts mr. meadows, "he's got to condemn this asap. the capitol police tweet is not enough. donald trump jr texted. meadows responded. "i am pushing it hard.

i agree. still, president trump did not immediately act. donald trump jr texted, again, and again. urging action by the president. "we need an oval office address. he has to lead now. it has gone too far. and gotten out of hand. " but hours passed without necessary action by the president. these nonprivileged 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 official

proceedings to count electoral votes. mark meadows' testimony is necessary to inform our judgment. he refused to give any testimony at all. even regarding nonprivileged topics. he is is in contempt of congress. mr. meadows also has knowledge regarding president trump's efforts to persuade state officials to alter their official election results. in georgia, for instance, mr. meadows participated on a phone call between president trump and georgia secretary of state raffensberger and meadows was on the phone when president trump asked the secretary of state to "find 11,780 votes. to change the results of the presidential election in georgia. we know from the text mr. meadows turned over that at the time of that call, he appears to have been texting other participants on the call. again, mr. meadows has no

conceivable privilege baseis to refuse to testify on this topic. he is in contempt. third, in the weeks before january 6th, 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 clarke, as attorney general he. in part so mr. clarke could alter department of justice's conclusions regarding the election. mr. clarke informed the committee that he anticipates potential criminal prosecutions related to the matters. and intends in upcoming testimony to invoke his 5th amendment privilege against self-incrimination. as mr. meadows nonprivileged texts reveal, meadows

communicated multiple times with the member of congress who was working with mr. clarke. mr. meadows has no basis to refuse to testify regarding those communications. he is in contempt. january 6th was without precedence. there has been no stronger case in the nation's history for a congressional investigation into the action 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 nonpartisan. and we will get to the objective truth to ensure that

january 6th never happens again. i yield back. >> young lady yields back. pursuant to notice i call up the report on a resolution recommending that the house of representatives finds mark randall meadows in contempt of congress for refusal to comply with a subpoena duly issued by the select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol. the report was circulated in advance and printed copies are available. the clerk shall designate the report. >> report on a resolution recommending that the house of representatives find mark randall meadows in contempt of congress for refusal to comply with the subpoena duly issued by the select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol. >> without objection the report will be considered as read and

opened to amendment as any point. the chair recognizes the generalwoman from california. >> thank you, mr. chairman. like all of us on the committee -- mark med [inaudible] reasonably when -- we certainly didn't agree on policy matters, i wished him well and when he left congress to serve the staff for then president donald trump in 2020. shocking we now have to face the fact that mr. meadows admits he played an official role in trying to undermined the results of the 2020 presidential election. this committee's job is to find out about that plot. the plot which led up to the events on january 6th, and to propose legislative changes to

prevent something that from ever happening again. and it's been reported that during the lead up to january 6th, the white house was directing the department of justice to investigate outrageously crazy conspiracy theories to try to seed doubt about the election and as a president president kit of replacement of the lectors to benefit mr. trump's effort to overturn the election. we need to talk to mark meadows about that. as the vice chair has mentioned, mr. meadows made a surprise visit to the state run audit inia, which preceded the call that she recited where the then president asked the secretary state to go find votes. we need to talk to mark meadows about that. mr. meadows, interacted with a

lot of people, allegedly, including some of our own colleagues on the day of the violent attack and we have learned many of those interactions took place on a personal cell phone device. so we need to ask mark meadows about that. mr. meadows, himself, has acknowledged that he has responses and nonprivileged documents and communications. he sent some of them to us, he filed others in court. it certainly appears in meadows played a key role in the events that culminated in the attack on the capitol and our democracy and he has important information about the events and he must follow the law and cooperate with the committee's lawful request, or face the consequences. that's why as much as we might personally like mr. meadows, we have to take this action today because no one is above the

law. thank you mr. chairman. >> general lady yields back. the gentleman from illinois, mr. klingser. >> this is a near unique moment in history. s we vote on whether to hold a former colleague in contempt of congress. last time that happened was 1832. mark meadows has committed a crime in this case, a premeditated one. he thought carefully about his actions and actively chose to stone wall what you can clearly see in the back and forth with the select committee. first he produced over 9,000 pages of documents from his time in the white house. a after his former boss made it clear his i did appointment and displeasure shall didn't want to aid and refused to answer a single question from his former colleagues or even to show up

at all. this constitutes legal contempt. but also personal contempt. mark meadows' actions demonstrates contempt for congress, for the select committee for his former colleague, and for the integrity of the democratic process. he has clearly rejected this committee's investigation so now it's time to see whether the department of justice can be more persuasive. no one is above the law. not even a former president's chief of staff. in a nation of laws, you cannot have it both ways. he can't decline to tell the story to congress and on the same day publish part of that story in a book to line his pockets. he can't decline to produce documents even can't unspeak what he has said and call it privileged after the fact. it is perfectly conceivable that portions of what a

president's chief of staff knows is subject to a presidential privilege shielding it from disclosure. but it is also truth that not everything he knew or did during that period is privileged. mark meadows knows that. it's why he sent us the documents he did, and why he -- what made his book possible. that's why the law required him to show up for his deposition and specify in response to each question, what the answer was and whether or not that answer in fact was privileged from disclosure. his refusal to comply with the direction of congress stated plainly, on the face of the select committee's subpoena, is a display of his contempt for congress. which now forces us to sadly have to take this action. thank you mr. chairman. and i yield back. >> gentleman creeds back chair

recognize the gentleman from california. >> thank you. i want to pick up where he left off. 9,000 pages of records, that is what mr. meadows turned over, records over which mr. meadows asserted no claim of privilege, non, including thousands of text messages spanning the months before election day between election day and the end of the former president's [inaudible] january 6th. the time period he is now saying he won't discuss with the committee. i want to display just a few of the messages he received from people in congress. the committee is not naming the lawmakers at this time as our investigation is ongoing. if we could cue the first graphic. this one reads, january 6th, 2021, vice president mike pence

as president of the senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all. you can see why this is so critical to ask mr. meadows about. about a lawmaker suggesting that the former vice president simply throw out votes that he@up a laterally deems unconstitutional. in order to overturn a presidential election and subvert the will of the american people. here's another from january 6th. as the riot was ongoing. as if we could cue the second graphic. the president needs to stop this asap. on the 6th in meadows received dozens upon dozens of panicked messages like this one from lawmakers and others trapped on capitol hill. for people watching at home, begging the white house that the president of the united states do something to stop the

violence. how did meadows react to the cries for help? whom did he tell? what did he do and critically, what did the president of the united states do and what did he fail to do? mr. meadows doesn't think he should have to answer the questions. he wants the american people to be left in the dark. here's the last message to highlight from a lawmaker in the aftermath of january 6th. if we could cue graphic number three. yesterday, it was a terrible day. we tried everything we could in our objection to the six states. i am sorry nothing worked. the day after a failed attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power through violence, an elected lawmaker tells the white house chief of staff i am sorry nothing worked. that is chilling. we would like to ask mr. meadows what he thought about that.

mr. meadows' behavior and refusal to do his moral duty shows why we need stronger tools to enforce congressional subpoenas. it's an issue i worked on for years but in the absence of changes we will use the tools we have, and i expect the justice department to move as swiftly in dealing with mr. meadows as it did with there bannon. and prosecute him for violating the law and his duty as a citizen. i support advancing the contempt referral, mr. chairman, and i yield back. >> gentleman, yields back the chair recognizing gentleman from california, mr. aguilar. >> thank you, mr. cheryl. last tuesday, december 7th, the select committee received a letter from mr. meadows lawyer telling us that his client's appearance for the deposition had become and i am quoting untenable. something else happened last tuesday. the chief's chief at the books

stores. the memoir. remember, this is a witness who is refusing to comply with the law and answer our questions. in part, because he says the former president has instructed him to do so. he says he was the chief of staff and he couldn't possibly disclose his conversations with the former president. but let's take look at the book. this is from a section dealing with the january 6th rally at the ellipse. and i am going to put this quote up here on the screens. i am not going to read the whole thing because we all know what the president said publicly that day. but i want to to read this part. when he got off stage, president trump let me know that he had been speaking metaphoriccally and he knew we couldn't organize a trip like this on such short notice. this is interesting because the select committee has a lot of questions about what the president said and did and we have questions about the protest that day and how they escalated into a riot.

and mark meadows says can't discuss those details with us. but apparently, he can put them in the book. he can also discuss them on television. just weeks after january 6th, mr. meadows discussed his interactions with the former president. she asked him at any time did president of the united states want to or seek to interfere with the vote counting of legitimate votes of the election? he was happy to answer her questions. fast forward to last week. mr. meadows is back on tv a number of times discussing conversations with the president about security concerns on january 6th. we had questions about that, too. we had questions about the emails that focused on protecting "pro trump people." he will share details about his interactions with the former president with laura ingraham and share details with sean

hannity. he will share details with anyone who will shell out 25 bucks for his book. but in the face of the lawful subpoena, from the select committee, as we work to get answers, for the american people, the only thing mr. meadows will share are his executions. we don't accept his excuses. he must be held accountable. thank you, mr. cheryl. i yield back. >> chair rex regionis generalwoman from florida mrs. murphy. >> thank you, mr. chairman. in a few molts i will vote to recommend that the house fine former white house chief of staff mark meadows incontempt of congress for failing to comply with our committee's subpoena for documents and testimony related to the january 6th attack. mr. meadows was a central participant in the events that culminated in the assault on our capitol, our country, and our core democratic values. to create the most being a are the account of when occurred, why it occurred, and what specific steps we can take to

prevent it from occurring again, our committee needs to hear from mr. meadows. the supreme court once observed a subpoena is not a "invitation to a game of heir and hounds where the witness testified only at end of the chase. it is clear to any reasonable observer that mr. meadows has treated this committee's request for relevant information as if it were a game. to read the record of how mr. meadows has responded to our subpoena, issued in late september, is to come away exhausted, exasperated and just enraged. and any regular citizen who flouted a congressional or court subpoena like mr. meadows would have faced serious legal challenges consequences, and rightly so. this is not a witness who has acted in good faith. generally, willing to tell his side of the story while declining to disclose certain information based on clear and colorful assertion of legal

privilege. so contrary, mr. meadows initially delayed resisted, and made unreasonable legal arguments, failed to produce documents in timely fashion, and refused to appear if a scheduled deposition. then, he had an apparent change of heart and pledged his cooperation leading to the production of about 9,000 emails and text messages. and then, he reversed course again, categorically refusing to be deposed about what the documents reveal. in summary, mr. meadows' tactics wasted the committee's time and taxpayer funded resources. he's left us with incomplete and inadequate information about what he did, and what he knows. and hindered our effort to fine the truth. it bears emphasis that the documents mr. meadows turned over raise as many questions as they answer. for example, the documents confirm that mr. meadows used personal g mail accounts and a personal cell phone to conduct

official business and send communications related to january 6th. and that he also used signal the private messenger application. and had mr. meadows been deposed under oath the committee would have asked about the handle of official government record a topic that is not subject to any conceivable legal privilege. this is a critical line of inquiry because we need to know if mr. meadows do not properly preserve all of his official emails, texts and messages and provide them to the national archiving as required by law. after all, our committee has requested and will hopefully soon receive a wide range of trump administration records from the national archives. we need to know whether the universe of records in the archives possession is complete and comprehensive. understanding mr. meadows compliance with federal record keeping laws, will help ensure the committee ultimately receives all of the relevant documents we are entitled to review as part of our fact- finding mission. as a result of this actions,

and inactions, mr. meadows is clearly in contempt of congress and should be referred to the department of justice for criminal prosecution. i yield back. >> the general lady yields back. we recognize mr. raskin. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. meadows is sudden vanishing act is intolerable to the rule of law and to the work of our committee. imagine how how our justice set system would breakdown if any witness could decide to store cooperating made way through a proceeding. the 9,000 pages that mr. meadows has produced in disclosed documents without asserting a privilege put him in the thick of the action with donald trump as the capitol was overreturned by violence insurrectionist and as trump and others tried to overthrow joe biden's majority in the electoral college by exerting coercive president on vice president pence.

we are getting a comprehensive portrait of what took place on january 6th but mr. meadows' testimony is very significant for us. mr. chairman, the committee bent over backwards to accommodate mr. meadows' request. he has no intention of complying with the subpoena even when his testimony could have no theoretical connection to an executive privilege claim. for example, he categorically refusing to show up to testify about 9,000 pages of documents he already turned over to the committee, and for which he has thus nullified any hypothetical assertions of executive privilege. he is refusing to testify about statements he made in his book published last week and in the media, about the events of january 6th. this is again another category of statements where any conceivable executive privilege claim were can be invoked has

been deliberately andry kateed and waived by mr. meadows. this witness must testify. like 300 other witnesses before him have done. either voluntarily and proudly, as a patriotic citizen, or at least under compulsion of subpoena by the congress of the united states. but he has no right anywhere in the constitutional system to defy the subpoena from the house of representatives. and if anyone we called as a witness knows in his bones that he must testify, before our committee, it is mr. meadows himself. repeatedly through his career in congress, he insisted that even high ranking executive branch officials must employ with congressional subpoenas for documents, information and testimony. in the last administration, multiple times mr. meadows found high ranking officials hiding information from congress withholding relevant

documents for even outright ignoring congreggal sean heas. and he said this, this level of conduct haired with the failure to even feign an interesting in transparency is reprehensible and whether you are republican or a democrat, this kind of obstruction is wrong, period. for nine months we have warned cons queens wednesdays are coming and nine months we heard the same excuses backedp by the same unacceptable conduct. time is up and the consequences are here. unquote. a subpoenaed witness can't that is right article 1 congressional power and process simply by filing an article 3 lawsuit. the lawsuit against individual members of this committee is extremely dubious. and in light of the speech and debate clause and other major roadblocks and substantive allegations are trifle louse such as the claim that congress has no legitimate purpose in

investigating and reporting on a violent attack on our capitol, our presidential election, and the peaceful transfer of power. if we have no legitimate legislative purpose, in investigating a violent insurrection against our government worker have no legitimate legislative purpose at all. if this investigation is not necessary and proper, to everything else we are doing, in congress, then the constitutional has been hollowed out but official lawlessness and shocking collapse in critical thinking skills. meadows' last-minute suit is plainly a tactic to delay and obstruct our investigation and it need not detain us any longer mr. chairman. we received overwhelming cooperation and participation from americans who can help us piece together this shocking sequence of events and we have a duty to collect all of the evidence we need to report back to congress and to the american people on a matter of the out

nose most gravity and importance to the future of american democracy. i favor this resolution to proceed with criminal contempt and i yield back to you mr. chairman. >> gentleman yields back. chair recognizes generalwoman from virginia. >> thank you mr. chairman, madam vice chair and fellow committee members. as many of us echoed, we don't take this vote lightly. but this committee and this congress is left with no other alternative when in the midst of an investigation of this magnitude, we are stonewalled at every turn by those a played a central role in the planning and execution of the january 6th attack. we have a detailed pictured of the attack and the events leading up to it. our committees heard from almost 300 people, we received more than 30,000 pages documents, and we continue to follow up every day on the more

than 250 tips received through our tip line. let's be very clear about mr. meadows' role and why his testimony is so important. in the course of the investigation, we have heard from individuals involved in a planning of the rallies that immediately proceeded the violent attack on the capitol. and we know some of those people were in direct contact with mr. meadows. we want to ask him about that. we have heard from former white house staffers who are helping us understand what was going on in the white house and the time leading up to january 6th. mr. meadows was a chief of staff in the white house. though we want to ask him about that. we have heard from officials at the justice department who are on the receiving end of instructions to amplify unsupported claims about the outcome of the election. mr. meadows integral in the efforts so we want to ask him

about that. we have heard from state level officials about the pressure campaigns and relentless public attacks on democracy. in arizona, michigan, and georgia. mr. meadows actually went to georgia in connection with the recount effort. the committee and american people must hear from him about that. we are investigating an attempt as one rioter put it, to overthrow the government. the state of our republic has never faced a threat as acute as and eminent as we face today. and we are looking into through this investigation. the extent of the effort reached the highest levels of the government, and it runs right through mr. meadows. anything less than the full cooperation further enable the erosion of the constitution,

our democratic institutions, and the rule of law. i join my colleagues in urging an aye vote on this resolution and i yield back. >> general laude yields back. if there's no further debate i recognize the generalwoman from wyoming miss cheney for a motion. >> mr. chairman i move that the committee favorably report to the house the committee's report on a resolution recommending that the house of representatives find mark randall meadows in contempt of congress for refusal to comply with the subpoena duly issued by the select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol. >> the question is the motion to favorly report to the house those in favor say aye. >> aye. >> those who say no. an opinion of the chairs the aye has it. >> i request a recorded vote. >> a recorded vote is requested

clerk will call the roll. >> mr. cheney. >> aye. >> miss cheney. >> >> aye. >> mr. schiff? >> aye. >> mr. schiff aye mr. aguilar. >> aye. >> mr. aguilar ay. >> mrs. murphy. >> aye. >>s in murphy aye. >> mr. raskkin. >> ake. >> plus. >> aye. >> and mr. kinsinger. >> aye. >> aye. >> how is the chair recorded? >> mr. chairman you are not recorded. >> i vote aye. >> mr. chairman aye. >> the clerk will report the vote. >> mr. chairman, on this vote there are 9ayes and zero nos.

>> the motion say greed to. vice chair is recognizeed. >> mr. chairman pursuant to clause 2l of rule 11, i request that members have two calendar days to file with the clerk of the committee supplemental and additional views on the measure ordered reported by the committee tonight. >> so ordered. without objection staff is authorized to make any necessary technical or conforming changes to the report to reflect the actions of the committee. there being no further business, without objection, the select committee stands adjourned. >> all right. that was the pretty stunning series of revelations there when we consider with we heard. i want to go to ryan nobles. and we had 55 pages earlier today. we thought this they would be putting out new information and they did. the vice chair liz cheney adding a lot of new details to

the january 6th committee. >> reporter: yeah, there's no doubt about that. and it goes to show just how much information the select committee has as it relates to mark meadows that we haven't seen, because it seems as though every day, they can roll out some new bombshell of information that shows directly the role that meadows played in the events leading up to and on january 6th. and tonight, they revealed some of the most damming yet. the message exchanges with members of congress, with personality from fox news, with the president's own children. i don't think there's any doubt anyth text exchange from donald trump jr to the chief of staff imploring him to convince his father to go out and make a public statement to try to quail the violence on capitol hill, and we know that the timeline of everything essentially the president ignoring even a plea from his son. this is all information that we

did not have before. and it also plays in to this larger argument that the committee is making about the need for meadows to come in and answer questions about what he knew about january 6th. and in furthermore, about how his knowledge of the events is not in anyway protected under executive privilege because a, he's offered up 6,000 documents, 9,000 pages worth of information, and he's written a book on the topic where he talks about his conversations with the president in and around that time. and so now he needs to fill in these gaps by coming and sitting in front of the committee for a full deposition. that's obviously something meadows has been reluctant and refused to do. we don't know exactly the reason why he signaled he was willing to and then made an about face at the last second. this will now go to the full house erin, they will vote on it probably tomorrow and then it will head to the department of justice, and then the next question is whether or not the

department of justice prosecute mark meadows. it's a more complicated situation than we have seen with steve ban or jeffrey >> th complicated decision and we heard congress luria laying down the gauntlet. if they don't hear from him, it's a true threat to democracy and the rule of law. they're putting that pressure on. thank you very much. ellie honeings with me and our special correspondent jamie gang gel. ryan laid it out. the vice chair cheney laid out three buskts text messages we didn't hear about until tonight, messages from members of congress in the heat of the moment. they've breached the capitol, we're under siege. the texts from fox news personalities showing their stress and fear at that moment and from the president's own

son. all of that laying it out. >> the text we had seen earlier today were astonishing. but what we just saw was utterly damning. he's physically with donald trump as this is going down. we're under siege up here at the capitol, someone is going to get killed. potus needs to calm this blank down. i mean, that is crucial to what the committee is doing. what we're seeing is the compete is playing hardball with mark meadows. congress ultimately doesn't have that strong a legal tools to enforce compliance. this is the heaviest hammer that they have to recommend him for criminal contempt and just bausz base level, mark meadows could be indicted federally, handcuffed and go to prison if merrick garland charges. they have to do it. last thing to keep in mind. these are just the text mark meadows chose to turn over. he told the committee, you can see these, but not these. we need to know what the other ones are. >> from all your reporting, that is a really important thing to

emphasize. these are the 6,000 documents, 9,000 pages, that mark meadows thought were, you know, exonerated him. and yet this is what we are actually seeing in here, and they have more and more and more to lay out. >> to your point, what we heard tonight i believe is just a small number of the text messages. i was told by a source familiar that there are hundreds of text messages that the committee thinks are relevant. and so i think there's more to come. this was just the beginning. i want to say something just about what ellie said about how hard they're being on mark meadows. i would like to add that this is a day of reckoning for donald trump. because we don't like to use the word "lying" as reporters, but look at these fox news hosts.

they have been lying. they were lying on january 6th. they go on social media every day. they go on the air and pretend january 6th was not a big deal. and i would say also that while we heard from trump loyalists, republican congressmen, people saying to mark meadows, mark, he needs to stop this now -- this is someone who knows meadows well, i would say one of the most remarkable things that liz cheney has done is -- she has gone on the record with don junior's text. this is an exchange that goes back and forth where he says -- he says that, quote, he's got to condemn this shit as soon as possible, and then he says to mark meadows, again, we need to know the address. he has to lead now.

it has gone too far and gotten out of hand. that's the president's son who did not go to his father, perhaps couldn't go to his father, and went to mark meadows. >> you know what's amazing is to me the shakespearean aspect of this stands out. donald trump jr. yelling so feebly. it's your father. >> right. >> and you got to go to mark meadows who's known the guy for a couple years when you've known him for 40 some odd years. there's the shakespearean part of it. i think it's so crucial, gloria. here's the text exchange we have, this specific one between donald trump jr. and mark meadows as the actual insurrection is happening. >> as the violence continued, one of the president's sons texted mr. meadows, quote, he's got to condemn this shit asap. the capitol police tweet is not

enough. donald trump jr. texted. meadows responded, quote, i'm pushing it hard. i agree. still, president trump did not immediately act. donald trump jr. texted again and again, urging action by the president. quote, we need an oval office address. he has to lead now. it has gone too far and gotten out of hand. end quote. but hours passed without necessary action by the president. >> gloria, that is what donald trump jr. really thought. despite his many comments since, downplaying the whole event. >> and laura ingraham, who said this is hurting all of us. he is destroying his legacy. this is laura ingraham, who

mocked the police officers after they testified before the committee. look, if you are someone who believes fox news anchors like laura ingraham, if you are a fan of donald trump jr., what are you thinking tonight if you are hearing this? you should be thinking, i think, that these people are imposters, this they have been double-dealing you. here they were texting mark meadows the day of the insurrection and saying get this to stop, this is terrible for all of us. now they're portraying the insurrection as something that was close to a walk in the park. >> right. >> that the police officers should be mocked, that donald trump did nothing wrong. what liz cheney did tonight was say meadows knew, the white house knew, the fox news anchors

are complete hypocrites, and donald trump jr. knew and couldn't even tell his father directly. >> well, right. so, you know, brian stelter is with us as well now. brian, there is that kind of moment where liz cheney is talking about laura ingraham saying he's destroying his legacy. sean hannity texts mark meadows, can he make a statement ask people to leave the capitol? that's what sean hannity said in that moment. he's one example of how he's talked about that day in public to his viewers. we don't have it? >> i'll tell you what he said. >> right, go ahead. >> he said i'd like to know who the agitators are. hannity said it wasn't trump supporters who were terrorists in the capitol that night. he brought on guests to say it was antifa who attacked the capitol. tucker carlson the same night made those same lies, yet we see

in these text messages the truth. yesterday chris wallace had enough and quit fox news. tonight we had these text messages proving that these fox stars knew what was happening. yet fox didn't even broadcast this tonight, erin. neither did newsmax. they are keeping the echo chamber so protected that the truth doesn't get out anymore. i don't know why anybody calls these prime time shows anything related to news anymore. >> they're certainly not going to get it on their network. it's not even carried live. ellie, there's a fundamental point being made by liz cheney as she lays this out, the desperation from inside the capitol and trump administration officials, the desperation from the president's own son, and that is, did donald trump through action or inaction corruptly seek to obstruct or impede congress official proceedings to count electoral votes? that is a crucial point she's making there. there's the action of what he

may have known and done and aided and abetted and encouraged, and then there's the proven, even in the public texts that they have inaction in the moment. >> the action is what donald trump and mark meadows spent weeks setting in motion. the inaction is what they did when they were being told real time this is incredibly dangerous, people are getting hurt. the beautiful thing about texts to an investigator is they tell you exactly what someone thinks. >> the heat of the moment. >> that's truth, and it comes through here and they knew it was dangerous and they knew only donald trump could stop it. >> and when you hear this from sean hannity and laura ingraham and donald trump jr., what's your gut reaction? this is what they said in the moment. donald trump jr. even going so far as to say the capitol police tweet not enough. >> judges sometimes tell juries that science hasn't developed a way to read someone's mind, but texts are damn close, and these

texts show you what's on their mind as this was going down. that's truth. >> it is. amazing what we saw here laid out by the vice chair, liz cheney, tonight as we continue to cover this breaking news as well as the breaking news from the midwest. thank you so much for joining us. now let's hand it over to ac 360. good evening from mayfield, kentucky, one of the hardest-hit towns in the hardest-hit state after one of the deadliest and most destructive tornado outbreaks this country has ever seen. we got extensive reporting from here tonight. we begin, though, first with breaking news from washington where the house select committee investigating the january 6th riot has just approved a criminal contempt of congress referral against former white house chief of staff mark meadows. now, that comes as the committee releases extraordinary evidence -- we don't use that word extraordinary lightly, detailing what meadows and others in the wh