Late night hosts also hold Mark Meadows in contempt

"In Washington, the House voted to hold former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate the Jan. 6 panel," Jimmy Fallon said on Wednesday's Tonight Show. "The consequences are severe — Meadows could be sentenced to a year in prison, or even worse, another month working for Trump. Of course Meadows needs a good lawyer, so the first thing he did is pull up Rudy Giuliani's number and delete it."
Before he "ghosted" the committee, Meadows turned over thousands of pages of documents, including text messages with Fox News hosts and Donald Trump Jr., but also "something especially scary," Samantha Bee said on Full Frontal. "Meadows' PowerPoint presentation, which made it into the White House, was filled with extreme plans to overturn the election." Look, Meadows is neck-deep in this plot, "and at this point, it's clear there's only one way to really get through to him," she said — and yes, her "very important message" was delivered via PowerPoint.
"The House voted to hold Meadows in criminal contempt," but "the rest of us can just keep holding him in regular contempt," Stephen Colbert joked at The Late Show. But it's not just Meadows, "the whole Republican caucus is an accessory to this coup. And we recently got more evidence of that in the form of text messages to Mark Meadows" from GOP lawmakers. The authors of the more damning texts have not yet been disclosed, he added, but "they have the ring of unfiltered truth, because they were taken from Mark Meadows' two personal phones — and nothing says innocent like a second cellphone. "
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.
"In COVID news, there is, unfortunately, still no vaccine for stupid, and we saw that firsthand yesterday here in Queens, New York, when reportedly a group of anti-vaxxers staged a 'sit-in' at a Cheesecake Factory," Colbert said. "It's ironic, because they healthier thing you can get at a Cheesecake Factory is COVID."

The NYPD was called and "six people were arrested" at the Cheesecake Factory sit-in, and one anti-vaxxer threatened to ruin the Cheesecake Factory, Jimmy Kimmel scoffed on Kimmel Live. "Let me tell you something lady, you'll never shut down the Cheesecake Factory. ... Their menu is 500 pages long, okay? You think you can out-hustle a company that offers crispy crab wontons and cheeseburger spring rolls? I don't think so."

A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Political cartoons for October 18
Cartoons Saturday's editorial cartoons include conversion therapy, Russ Vought, and more
-
President Trump: ‘waging war’ on Chicago
Talking Point Federal agents are carrying out ‘increasingly aggressive’ immigration raids – but have sanctuary cities like Chicago brought it on themselves?
-
Crossword: October 18, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Madagascar president in hiding, refuses to resign
Speed Read Andry Rajoelina fled the country amid Gen Z protests and unrest
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime minister
In the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Israel, Hamas agree to first step of Trump peace plan
Speed Read Israel’s military pulls back in Gaza amid prisoner exchange
-
Israel intercepts 2nd Gaza aid flotilla in a week
Speed Read The Israeli military intercepted a flotilla of nine boats with 145 activists aboard along with medical and food aid
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime minister
Speed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
Israel and Hamas meet on hostages, Trump’s plan
Speed Read Hamas accepted the general terms of Trump’s 20-point plan, including the release of all remaining hostages
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sites
Speed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s new Gaza peace plan
Speed Read At President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they agreed upon a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza