- Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan were among the lawmakers who attended meetings, according to a Meadows assistant.
- Marjorie Taylor Greene, while still an elected member of Congress, attended at least one meeting.
- The announcement also indicates that Meadows was made aware of the possibility of violence on 6 January.
Republican lawmakers have been actively working with former President Donald Trump and other top aides to devise ways to overthrow the 2020 election, new evidence filed in federal court late Friday shows.
Meetings that included discussions of efforts to prevent incumbent President Joe Biden from taking office, set forth in excerpts submitted by the January 6 committee, were attended by several of the former president’s allies in Congress, personally as well as by phone.
Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and Scott Perry, R-Pa., Were among the members who attended meetings, Meadows Assistant Cassidy Hutchinson said in her statement. .
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, while still elected a congressman, attended at least one meeting. Several other House Freedom Caucus members, including Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) And Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), Also attended at least one meeting, Hutchinson said.
The announcement also indicates that Meadows was made aware of the potential for violence on January 6 before that day.
The evidence was revealed in an 11th-hour court filing by the January 6 committee in which a federal judge is asked to enforce his summons from Meadows, portraying him as a key figure in efforts to determine the outcome of the 2020 election to reverse.
According to Hutchinson, members of Congress and other officials have discussed ways to persuade former Vice President Mike Pence to stop Biden’s election.
“They felt he had the authority to – excuse me if my phrasing is not correct on this, but – to send votes back to the states or the voters back to the states,” Hutchinson said.
Another plan, discussed between Meadows and Perry, would have replaced the Justice Department’s leadership days before Jan. 6, the announcement said.
The January 6 committee indicated that Meadows supported the effort to persuade Pence to return votes to the states, and wrote in a text to Jordan that he “pushed for this. Not sure it’s going to happen.”
Hutchinson said Anthony Ornato, a current senior Secret Service official who previously worked as deputy chief of staff for operations at the Trump White House, briefed Meadows of intelligence on possible January 6 violence. Meadows replied, “All right. Let’s talk about it,” according to Hutchinson.
Meadows apparently agreed to appear for a statement on December 8, 2021, the filing says, but on December 7, he informed the select committee of a “heart change.” Instead, he filed a lawsuit to exercise his alleged executive privilege.
In a joint statement issued Friday, Bennie Thompson, D-Miss, the Jan. 6 committee chairman, and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., The vice-chairman, urged the court to reject Meadows’ allegations that executive privilege protects him to comply with their subpoena.
“It is imperative that the American people play the role of Mr. Meadows fully understand events before, on and after 6 January, ”reads the statement. “His attempt to use the courts to cover up that information must come to an end.”
