A cache of 2,319 text messages sent and received by former President Donald Trump's White House chief of staff Mark Meadows between Election Day 2020 and President Biden's inauguration shows a group of Republican lawmakers and operatives working to overturn the election and scrambling to respond to the chaotic events of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The messages, obtained by CNN and released on Monday, include texts from Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Trump Jr. They also include "White House and campaign officials, Cabinet members, Republican Party leaders, January 6 rally organizers, Rudy Giuliani, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, Sean Hannity and other Fox hosts," writes CNN. There are also texts with "more than 40 current and former Republican members of Congress," including Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio), Mo Brooks (Ala.), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.).
On Jan. 6, as rioters breached the Capitol, Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows, warning that "[t]hey will try to f--k [my father's] entire legacy on this if it gets worse." Others who urged Meadows to have Trump call off the rioters included former White House chiefs of staff Mick Mulvaney and Reince Priebus and Reps. William Timmons (R-S.C.) and Greene, who wrote to Meadows that he should "tell the President to calm people" and that "This isn't the way to solve anything."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeezeTHE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
