Mark Meadows: House votes to recommend criminal contempt charges against Trump’s former chief of staff | Attack on the US Capitol| Breaking News Updates

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

The approval marks the first time the House has voted in contempt of a former MP since the 1830s, according to House records.

This is the panel’s latest show of force on Jan.6, which leaves no angle unexplored as it investigates the worst attack on Capitol Hill in over 200 years. Lawmakers are determined to get answers quickly and in doing so reaffirm the authority of Congress that Trump eroded during his tenure.

“History will be written about those times, about the work this committee undertook,” said Bennie Thompson, committee chair.

Meadows, a former congressman from North Carolina, left in March 2020 to join the Trump administration. Before leaving Congress, Meadows “continually insisted that people and senior government officials respect the authority of Congress to do its job, and investigative powers are implicit and closely related to our powers to legislate.” said Jamie Raskin, Committee member.

Raskin began Tuesday’s debate by reading frenzied texts recently released on the day of the attack revealing members of Congress, Fox News presenters and even Trump’s son urging Meadows to persuade the outgoing president to act quickly to stop the three-hour assault of his supporters. .

Tuesday’s vote followed a committee recommendation that Meadows be charged. The case is now moving to the Justice Department, which will decide whether to prosecute.

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

Committee leaders have pledged to punish anyone who fails to comply with their investigation, and the Justice Department has already charged longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon with two counts of contempt after defying his subpoena. to appear. If found guilty, Bannon and Meadows could face up to a year behind bars on each charge.

However, in a statement on Tuesday, Meadows’ attorney George Terwilliger said the former chief of staff never stopped cooperating but maintained he could not be compelled to show up for an interview. . The attorney said Meadows had “fully cooperated” with regard to the documents that are in his possession and are not privileged.

Meadows himself sued the panel, asking a court to strike down two subpoenas which he said are “too broad and unduly onerous.”

Committee members said the texts sent to Meadows on the day of the insurgency raised new questions about what was going on in the White House and what Trump himself was doing while the attack was underway. The committee had planned to interview Meadows about communications, including 6,600 pages of recordings taken from personal email accounts and around 2,000 text messages. The panel did not publish any of the papers in their entirety.

Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, vice-chair of the panel, told the committee meeting on Monday night that an important question raised by the texts was whether Trump had sought to obstruct congressional certification by refusing to send a strong message to the rioters to stop.

“These texts leave no doubt,” Cheney said. “The White House knew exactly what was going on on Capitol Hill. “

The commission of inquiry has already interviewed more than 300 witnesses and subpoenaed more than 40 people, as it seeks to create the most comprehensive record to date on the preparations for the insurgency and the violent siege itself.