Donald Trump Jr. had reportedly begged former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to have his father give a speech to stop the insurgence during the January 6 US Capitol riot. The requests were made through text messages, one of which quoted Trump Jr. as saying "He's got to condemn this s*it ASAP".
"The Capitol Police tweet is not enough," Trump Jr. had texted, to which Meadows had responded by saying, "I'm pushing it hard. I agree," as per Business Insider.
"We need an Oval Office address. He has to leave now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand," Trump Jr. had said.
The vice-chair of the January 6 select committee, Rep. Liz Cheney, presented several other messages sent to Meadows during the insurrection, which the latter had earlier handed over to the committee.
According to the Insider, Cheney also said Meadows had received text messages from Fox News hosts and other lawmakers, who were making similar requests. "Please get him on TV," a co-host of the morning show "Fox & Friends" had texted Meadows. "Destroying everything you have accomplished."
The committee had on Monday recommended that Meadows, who withdrew his cooperation with the investigation last week, be charged with criminal contempt for doing so.
Last Friday, Meadows had turned over a PowerPoint recommending Trump to declare a national security emergency in order to return himself to the presidency, to the committee.
The PowerPoint was titled "Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 Jan" and had made recommendations for Trump to retain the presidency on the basis of lies and debunked conspiracies about widespread election fraud. Meadows having access to the powerpoint, just a day before the coup, showed that he was somewhat aware of Trump's plans to stop Biden's certification from taking place, as per the Guardian.
Meadows had also handed over to the committee, text messages and emails, that made it evident Donald Trump was "exchanging with a wide range of individuals while the attack was underway".
The documents had led to Trump losing his legal battle seeking to block information from the committee.
