Committee Releases Jan. 6 Texts from Fox Hosts, Trump Jr.

On Monday, the House Jan. 6 Committee released several texts received during the Capitol riot by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows from several Fox News hosts, lawmakers and Donald Trump Jr.

Many of the texts — provided by Meadows himself while he was cooperating with the panel — urged Meadows to convince then-President Donald Trump to tell his supporters to leave the Capitol building. In one exchange, Trump Jr. wrote, “He’s got to condemn this s--- ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough,” and Meadows replied, “I'm pushing it hard. I agree.” The release came just before the panel voted to recommend holding Meadows in criminal contempt of Congress over his refusal to continue cooperating with lawmakers. 

Coverage came mostly from the left and center on Tuesday. Some voices on the left saw the texts as exposing the hypocrisy of people who had purportedly publicly downplayed the riot. Some voices on the right argued that the texts vindicated their senders by proving their disapproval of the riot. Update 12/14/21 3:25 PM EST: Previous version stated the release came after, not before, the committee's vote on holding Meadows in contempt of Congress.