Over 2,000 never-before-seen text messages to and from Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows – which were selectively provided by Meadows to the House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the US Capitol, before he reportedly stopped cooperating with the panel – have finally been obtained and shared by CNN. And they give a lot of insight into how Trump’s inner circle tried to overturn the election, as well as how various different people reacted to the riot, including many Trump allies who seemingly tried to urge the then president to calm the rioters.
The text messages between Meadows and several members of Trump’s family – including son Donald Trump Jr, daughter Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner – were between Election Day 2020 and President Joe Biden’s January 20th, 2021 inauguration; and they’re even juicier than we could have ever imagined! As well as immediate members of the 75-year-old former president’s family, some of the 2,319 text messages between the aforementioned period also came from more than 40 current and former Republican members of Congress, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mo Brooks of Alabama, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, as well as White House campaign officials, Cabinet members, Republican Party leaders, January 6th rally organizers, Former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani, Sean Hannity and other Fox hosts, and so many others.
The first of the text messages show how Trump’s inner circle pushed strategies to overturn the election results several weeks after Election Day. Jordan, for example, seemingly said that former Vice President Mike Pence should discount "all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional" on January 6th. And although Meadows looks like he is taking a backseat in the text messages, only offering short replies or sometimes not even responding at all, it’s been suggested that some of his replies could have been purposely left out, as there is no evidence to confirm that he provided a complete log of messages without any omissions. So scandalous!
Another one of the most interesting parts of the leaked text messages was in relation to the attack on the Capitol building, in particular how several people tried to urge Trump to calm the rioters as the attacks were happening. Donald Trump Jr can be seen telling Meadows that Trump should "condem (sic) this [expletive] Asap," after saying that Trump’s tweet calling for support for Capitol police was "not enough."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to Mark Meadows
Mark I was just told there is an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol Please tell the President to calm people This isn't the way to solve anything
Mick Mulvaney to Mark Meadows
Mark: he needs to stop this, now. Can I do anything to help?
Rep. Barry Loudermilk to Mark Meadows
It's really bad up here on the hill.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk to Mark Meadows
They have breached the Capitol.
Mark Meadows to Rep. Barry Loudermilk
POTUS is engaging
Rep. Barry Loudermilk to Mark Meadows
Thanks. This doesn't help our cause.
Rep. William Timmons to Mark Meadows
The president needs to stop this ASAP
Mark Meadows to Rep. William Timmons
We are doing it
Donald Trump Jr. to Mark Meadows
He's got to condem this [expletive] Asap. The captiol police tweet is not enough.
Donald Trump Jr. to Mark Meadows
This his one you go to the mattresses on. They will try to [expletive] his entire legacy on this if it gets worse.
Reince Priebus to Mark Meadows
TELL THEM TO GO HOME !!!
Jason Miller to Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino
Call me crazy, but ideas for two tweets from POTUS: 1) Bad apples, likely ANTIFA or other crazed leftists, infiltrated today's peaceful protest over the fraudulent vote count. Violence is never acceptable! MAGA supporters embrace our police and the rule of law and should leave the Capitol now! 2) The fake news media who encouraged this summer's violent and radical riots are now trying to blame peaceful and innocent MAGA supporters for violent actions. This isn't who we are! Our people should head home and let the criminals suffer the consequences!
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to Mark Meadows
Mark we don't think these attackers are our people. We think they are Antifa. Dressed like Trump supporters.
Rep. Louie Gohmert to Mark Meadows
Cap Police told me last night they'd been warned that today there'd be a lot of Antifa dressed in red Trump shirts & hats & would likely get violent. Good that Trump denounces violence but could add & well demand justice for those who became violent & well get to the bottom of what group they're with.
Jared Kushner to Mark Meadows, Jason Miller and Dan Scavino
Why don't we post on his Facebook page since he isn't locked out there...
The aftermath reactions were also very interesting too, in particular Greene's message on January 7th. "Yesterday was a terrible day," her message began. "We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I'm sorry nothing worked. I don't think that President Trump caused the attack on the Capitol. It's not his fault. Antifa was mixed in the crowed and instigated it, and sadly people followed. But when people try everything and no one listens and nothing works, I guess they think they have no other choice. Absolutely no excuse and I fully denounce all of it, but after shut downs all year and a stolen election, people are saying that they have no other choice. I defended Trump last night on Newsmax. He has been the greatest President. I will continue to defend him. And you if anyone attacks you. I hope you are ok. I feel badly for everyone."
Another interesting message from Greene came on January 17th, whereby she shared her thoughts about the election being stolen, and also mentioned going "after Biden and anyone else!" Her message to Meadows read: "In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law. I don't know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him. They stole this election. We all know. They will destroy our country next. Please tell him to declassify as much as possible so we can go after Biden and anyone else!"
