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Support Joe Collins for Congress!The U.S. House Jan. 6 committee has voted to advance criminal contempt charges against former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
In response to the panel's unanimous vote, Meadows faces a House floor vote, expected Tuesday, on whether to refer him to the Justice Department for criminal charges. (RELATED: Meadows Done Cooperating With Jan. 6 Committee)
Before the Jan. 6 committee voted on Monday night, ranking Republican Liz Cheney read several text messages Meadows received during the riot, including texts from Donald Trump Jr. and three Fox News hosts.
WATCH:
Why Did Meadows Stop Cooperating?
Meadows initially cooperated with the select committee, before declining to answer questions that he maintains are shielded by executive privilege.
While Sean Hannity didn't ask about Meadows's text messages in an interview Monday night, Newsmax's Rob Schmitt did.
WATCH:
Mediaite further reports:
โThey've got reports of text messages [the January 6 committee says] you gave them that show Fox hosts saying, โHey, you gotta get this under control, Trump needs to say something,'โ Schmitt said. โDon Jr. saying something. What's your response to all this tonight?โ
Meadows, in response, accused the House Jan. 6 committee of trying to โweaponizeโ the communications he turned over.
โWe've tried very hard, in a very transparent and accommodating way, to share non privileged information,โ Meadows said. โAnd what we found out tonight is that not only did that just get disregarded, but then they tried to weaponize text messages, selectively leaked them, to put out a narrative that the president didn't act.โ
SEE ALSO: Judge Holds Authorities in Contempt Over Jan. 6 Riot Case
Schmitt went on to ask Meadows if he intends to cooperate further with the committee. Meadows replied that he plans to protect his communications with Trump, which the former president claims fall under executive privilege, until the courts tell him otherwise.
Observers expect the House to refer Meadows for prosecution.
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