Did Donald Trump Jr. Really Plead For This To Happen On Jan 6?
Things aren't looking so hot for former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
On December 13, the House select committee responsible for investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol recommended the criminal prosecution of Meadows due to his unwillingness to cooperate with the investigation. "It comes down to this: Mr. Meadows started by doing the right thing—cooperating. He handed over records that he didn't try to shield behind some excuse," chairman Bennie G. Thompson said in the committee's business meeting. "But in an investigation like ours, that's just a first step. When the records raise questions—as these most certainly do—you have to come in and answer those questions. And when it's time for him to follow the law, come in, and testify on those questions, he changed his mind and told us to pound sand. He didn't even show up," he continued.
Alas, before abruptly bowing out of the investigation and essentially telling the committee to "pound sound," Meadows did turn over a few revelatory text messages including one from Donald Trump Jr. wherein he was caught pleading to his father...
Donald Trump Jr. begged his father to "condemn" the insurrection at the Capitol
Some might argue that Donald Trump Jr. is his father's biggest fan — but that doesn't necessarily mean he agrees with everything his father does, or better yet, doesn't do. Case in point: the former prez's unwillingness to stop the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
Representative of Wyoming and select committee vice-chair Liz Cheney stunned the masses on December 13 when she proceeded to read aloud never before released text messages from Donald Trump Jr. to his father's then-chief of staff, Mark Meadows at the committee's business meeting. "He's got to condemn this s*** ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough," Trump Jr. pleaded to which Meadows responded, "I'm pushing it hard. I agree."
In yet another desperate message, Trump Jr. pressed further writing, "We need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand." Unfortunately, Donald Trump did not take heed to his son's advice and hours went by without any intervention from the then-president.
While some might be willing to give props to Trump Jr. for standing up to his father, Trump's estranged niece, Mary Trump, told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell that the messages were "cowardice." According to Mary, Trump Jr. opted to text Meadows instead of going directly to the source "because Donny knew that the message he was delivering was the message his father did not want to hear."