WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The House voted Tuesday to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress after he ceased to cooperate with investigating 鈥� making it the first time the House has voted to hold a former member in contempt since the 1830s.
The near-party-line 222-208 vote is the second time the special committee has sought to punish a witness for defying a subpoena. The vote is the latest show of force by the Jan. 6 panel, which is leaving no angle unexplored 鈥� and no subpoena unanswered 鈥� as it investigates the worst attack on the Capitol in more than 200 years. Lawmakers on the panel are determined to get answers quickly, and in doing so reassert the congressional authority that eroded while former President Donald Trump was in office.
鈥淗istory will be written about these times, about the work this committee has undertaken,鈥� said Rep. Bennie Thompson, R-Miss., the chairman. 鈥淎nd history will not look upon any of you as a martyr. History will not look upon you as a victim.鈥�
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., another member of the panel, began Tuesday鈥檚 debate on the resolution by reading revealing members of Congress, Fox News anchors and even Trump鈥檚 son urging Meadows to persuade the outgoing president to act quickly to stop the three-hour assault by his supporters.
The House vote sends the matter to the U.S. attorney鈥檚 office in Washington, where it will now be up to prosecutors in that office to decide whether to present the case to a grand jury for possible criminal charges.
If convicted, Bannon and Meadows could each face up to one year behind bars on each charge.
The nine-member panel voted 9-0 Monday night to recommend charges against the former North Carolina congressman who left in March 2020 to become Trump's chief of staff.
Republicans on Tuesday called the action against Meadows a distraction from the House's work, with one member calling it 鈥渆vil鈥� and 鈥渦n-American.鈥�
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, took to the floor to praise Meadows: 鈥淢ake no mistake, when Democrats vote in favor of this resolution, it is a vote to put a good man in prison.鈥�
Trump has also defended Meadows in saying: 鈥淚 think Mark should do what鈥檚 right. He鈥檚 an honorable man. He shouldn鈥檛 be put through this."
And Meadows鈥� attorney George Terwilliger defended his client in a statement before the vote, noting that he had provided documents to the panel and maintaining that he should not be compelled to appear for an interview.
Terwilliger said, 鈥淭he Select Committee鈥檚 true intentions in dealing with Mr. Meadows have been revealed when it accuses him of contempt citing the very documents his cooperation has produced.鈥�
Meadows himself has sued the panel, asking a court to invalidate two subpoenas that he says are 鈥渙verly broad and unduly burdensome.鈥�
Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters: 鈥淚 do think we鈥檙e all watching, as you are, what is unfolding on the House side. And it will be interesting to reveal all the participants who were involved.鈥�
He added that he was not in contact with Meadows on the day of the attack.
Democrats quoted at length from Jan. 6 text messages provided by Meadows while he was cooperating with the committee.
鈥淲e need an Oval Office address," Donald Trump Jr. texted, the committee said, as his father's supporters were breaking into the Capitol, sending lawmakers running for their lives and interrupting the certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory. "He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.鈥�
Trump Jr. added, "He鈥檚 got to condemn this s鈥�- ASAP." In response to one of Trump Jr.'s texts, Meadows said: 鈥淚鈥檓 pushing it hard. I agree.鈥�
Members of the committee said the texts raise fresh questions about what was happening at the White House 鈥� and what Trump himself was doing 鈥� as the attack was underway. The committee had planned to question Meadows about the communications, including 6,600 pages of records taken from personal email accounts and about 2,000 text messages. The panel has not released any of the communications in full.
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the panel鈥檚 vice chairwoman, said at the committee's Monday evening meeting that an important issue raised by the texts is whether Trump sought to obstruct the congressional certification by refusing to send a strong message to the rioters to stop.
鈥淭hese texts leave no doubt,鈥� Cheney said. 鈥淭he White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol.鈥�
The investigating panel has already interviewed more than 300 witnesses, and subpoenaed more than 40 people, as it seeks to create the most comprehensive record yet of the lead-up to the insurrection and of the violent siege itself.
If Meadows had appeared for his deposition, lawmakers had planned to ask him about Trump鈥檚 efforts to overturn the election in the weeks before the insurrection, including his outreach to states and his communications with members of Congress.
The panel says it wanted to know more about whether Trump was engaged in discussions regarding the , which was delayed for hours as the violence escalated and the guarding the Capitol building.
The documents provided by Meadows include an email he sent to an unidentified person saying that the Guard would be present to 鈥減rotect pro Trump people," the panel said, and that more would be available on standby. The committee did not release any additional details about that email.
Committee staff said they would have interviewed Meadows about emails 鈥渢o leadership at the Department of Justice on December 29th and 30th, 2020, and January 1st, 2021, encouraging investigations of suspected voter fraud,鈥� even though election officials and courts across the country had rejected those claims.
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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
Farnoush Amiri And Mary Clare Jalonick, The Associated Press