Friday, a CNN report about texts between two Republicans and Trump aide Mark Meadows started with a bang that busted.
“We’re driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic,” Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows January 1. The network reported that text was described as being written by a House Freedom Caucus member when first released by the House select committee. CNN seemed to find it sinister that Roy’s authorship had not been previously reported.
Rep. Roy’s texts were joined with reporting of texts by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) that combined for approximately 100 texts between the general election and the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The text messages were reportedly received by the House Select Committee investigating the riot, which the network reviewed. According to CNN, the texts reveal an aggressive attempt to lobby and encourage former President Donald Trump in efforts to overturn the election before sounding a more cautionary tone.
Both members of Congress initially supported legal challenges to the election before eventually souring on the effort and tactics employed by Mr. Trump and his team, the texts show.
In a series of November 7 texts to Meadows, Lee offered “unequivocal support for you to exhaust every legal and constitutional remedy at your disposal to restore Americans faith in our elections.”
“This fight is about the fundamental fairness and integrity of our election system,” Lee continued. “The nation is depending upon your continued resolve. Stay strong and keep fighting Mr. President.”
Roy wrote Meadows that day, too. “We need ammo; We need fraud examples,” he reportedly texted. “We need it this weekend.”
“I’d like to highlight that Senator Lee has been fully transparent,” Communications Director Lee Lonsberry reportedly said. He explained Lee had called for an investigation into claims of fraud in the 2020 election but ultimately recognized Biden as president-elect and voted to certify the electoral results on January 6.
Roy’s Communications Director, Nate Madden, said the text messages “speak for themselves,” the report noted.
Both men voted to certify the election results hours after violent rioters pushed their way into the Capitol.
Roy said his vote “may well sign my political death warrant,” according to The Hill, which reported Roy added “the president should never have spun up certain Americans to believe something that simply cannot be.”
“Our job is a very simple one,” Lee said. “Our job is to convene to open the ballots and to count them. That’s it.”
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