ASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) – The president of the United States has issued a statement On Jan. 6, 2021, rioters stormed the US Capitol, postponing the certification of Joe Biden's election to the White House – at least briefly.
Rep. Jim Jordan had attempted to accomplish the same goal just hours before.
At nearly midnight on Jan. 5, Jordan texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, a close ally and friend, with a legal justification for what President Donald Trump was publicly demanding: that Vice President Mike Pence, in his ceremonial role as presiding over the electoral count, assert the authority to reject electors from Biden-won states.
Jordan argued that Pence "should treat all unconstitutional electoral votes as if they were no electoral votes at all."
Meadows responded, "I've campaigned for this." "I'm not convinced it'll work."
The text message is part of a slew of surprising evidence that suggests certain House Republicans were deeply involved in Trump's frantic bid to stay in power, according to a court filing from the congressional panel probing the Jan. 6 violence. A study of the evidence reveals fresh facts about how some Republican senators were intimately involved in Trump's campaign to overturn the results of a free and fair election, well before the attack on the Capitol.As they prepare to start public hearings in June, members of the House Jan. 6 committee are emphasizing the link. The Republicans strategizing with Trump and the rioters who invaded the Capitol had similar goals, if not the mob's violent means, resulting in a convergence that threatened to upend the country's peaceful transition of power.Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Democratic head of the Jan. 6 committee, told The Associated Press last week, "It looks that a considerable number of House members and a few senators had more than just a passing part in what went on."
The Jan. 6 commission has been quietly gathering new information about what politicians said and did in the weeks leading up to the insurgency since it began its investigation last summer. Members have asked three Republican members to testify voluntarily: Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, and California House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Every single one of them has declined. In the following days, other lawmakers may be called.So far, the Jan. 6 committee has refrained from issuing subpoenas to politicians, fearful of the consequences of such an unusual step. However, the panel has been able to gather additional material about politicians' acts despite their refusal to cooperate.
The most recent court filing, filed in response to Meadows' case, featured snippets from only a few of the over 930 interviews conducted by the Jan. 6 panel. It contains details on multiple high-level meetings attended by almost a dozen House Republicans, where Trump's aides discussed ways to extend his tenure.
Creating phony elector slates in seven battleground states, establishing martial law, and seizing voting equipment are just a few of the suggestions.
The campaign began in the weeks following Biden's election as president-elect, according to The Associated Press.Several members of Congress attended a meeting in the White House counsel's office in early December 2020, where the president's attorneys told them that a proposal to elect an alternate slate of electors declaring Trump the winner was not "legally sound." Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, for example, disagreed with that viewpoint. According to Cassidy Hutchinson, a former special assistant in the Trump White House, Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Louie Gohmert of Texas participated as well.
Trump's loyalists pressed forward despite the counsel's warning. On Dec. 14, 2020, the fake electors convened alongside the legitimate Democratic electors in seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
They proclaimed themselves to be the legitimate electors and submitted forged Electoral College certificates pronouncing Trump the actual winner of the presidential election in their respective states.
The "alternative electors'" certificates were subsequently forwarded to Congress, where they were ignored.
Since then, the vast majority of legislators have denied any involvement in these attempts.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia testified in April that she has no recollection of interactions with the White House or messages she sent to Meadows regarding Trump declaring martial law.
According to the Associated Press, Gohmert also has no recollection of being involved and is unsure if he could be of assistance to the committee's probe. Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia downplayed his activities, noting that members of the president's party often go in and out of the White House to discuss a variety of issues. Hice is presently a candidate for Georgia Secretary of State, which oversees the state's elections.
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona didn't deny publicly attempting to overturn the election results, but said recent claims about his substantial involvement were false.
Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona expressed his "severe" concerns about the 2020 race in a statement released on Saturday. He went on to say that "discussions about the Electoral Count Act were relevant, essential, and deserved."
Other legislators did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Following the White House meeting in early December, another option emerged less than a week later. The topic of decisive action that Pence could take on Jan. 6 was discussed in a meeting with members of the House Freedom Caucus and Trump administration officials.
Hice, Biggs, Gosar, Reps. Perry, Gaetz, Jordan, Gohmert, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Debbie Lesko of Arizona, and Greene, then a congresswoman-elect, were among those in attendance both online and in person, according to committee testimony.
"Hutchinson, who was a regular attendee at the sessions in December 2020 and January 2021, was asked, "How was the conversation?" by the committee.
"They believed he had the right to, excuse my terminology, but — send votes or electors back to the states, "In reference to Pence, Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said no Republican legislators objected to the vice president having such power.
Perry and Jordan, as well as Greene and Lauren Boebert, a Republican who had recently been elected to the House from Colorado, were there at another meeting discussing Pence's possible role. Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis were also present.
As the deadline for submitting legislation drew nearer, lawmakers and the White House kept in touch. Perry sent Meadows a countdown message the day after Christmas.
"There are 11 days till the 6th of January and 25 days until the inauguration," "read the text ""Let's get this show on the road!" Meadows was advised by Perry to contact Jeffrey Clark, an assistant attorney general who supported Trump's efforts to overturn the election results. Perry has said that he was the one who introduced Trump to Clark.
Clark had a falling out with Justice Department bosses over his proposal to write a letter to Georgia and other crucial states doubting the election results and encouraging their state legislators to investigate. It all came to a head at a tense White House meeting, where Trump proposed appointing Clark to Attorney General, only to back down after top Justice Department officials announced their intentions to resign.
Congressional and White House pressure on the Justice Department is one of the subjects of the probe, which began on Jan. 6. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a Democrat on the committee, has signaled that there would be more surprises.
"As the mob destroyed our windows, bloodied our cops, and invaded the Capitol, Trump and his cohorts plotted to subvert our constitutional system by destroying Biden's electoral college majority," Raskin tweeted last week.
"America will see how the coup and insurgency converged" when the conclusions of the panel's probe are released, Raskin said.
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