Mark Meadows is in serious hot water

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( December 14, 2021 Last night, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) painted an utterly damning picture of what January 6, 2021 was like for Mark Meadows, the former Trump chief of staff for whom the House is likely to recommend a contempt of Congress charge. It turns out that Meadows' phone was blowing up that day. Cheney had the [text messages]( to prove it. Meadows got a message from Fox News host Laura Ingraham: "Mark, president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy." And one from Sean Hannity: "You make a statement. Ask people to leave the Capitol." Another from Donald Trump Jr.: "We need an Oval Office address. [Trump] has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand." Hold up. You're telling me that Fox News [knew all along]( that Trump supporters—not antifa—were responsible for the attack? It seems that we get a new bombshell revelation about the Trump administration every day, but this one is particularly startling. It shows that Republicans, and Trump's media lackeys, weren't immune to the alarm of the moment, even as they concealed their panic on-air, and began to rewrite the day to erase Trump's central role. Sure, it shows how quickly and nefariously Fox News hosts must work to spin things to their benefit. But it also strikes me as pathetic: all these people, impotent to stop the insurrection and too spineless and hypocritical to report the truth. None of this is a good look for Mark Meadows, whose [book glossed over January 6](, calling it the "actions of a handful of fanatics across town who had decided—all on their own, by the way, with absolutely no urging from President Trump—to break into the Capitol Building to try to wreak havoc." If and when the measure to recommend holding Meadows in contempt of Congress passes, the Justice Department [could choose to prosecute him]( for failing to fully cooperate in the House investigation. We'll keep you posted at MotherJones.com. —Abigail Weinberg P.S. I’m really glad I get to work at Mother Jones. Our big December fundraising drive just kicked off yesterday, and in “[What if Media Covered the War on Democracy Like an Actual War](,” our CEO Monika Bauerlein passionately writes about, well, the war on democracy, and why reporting like MoJo’s is so damn important right now. If you agree, I hope might consider [a year-end donation to help us reach our big $350,000 goal by December 31](. Advertisement [Tisbest]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [I Compared the New January 6 Texts to Mark Meadows’ Book. It’s Damning.]( Trump's last chief of staff is hiding what happened that awful day. BY DAVID CORN SPONSORED POST [Sponsored Content]( [Mother Jones Giving Guide]( THIS CONTENT WAS PAID FOR AND SPONSORED BY [MOTHER JONES PARTNERS](. [Trending] [Climate change is killing the crappy fake lake of my youth]( BY STEPHANIE MENCIMER [Fox News hosts privately panicked on Jan. 6. Then they frantically rewrote history.]( BY JACOB ROSENBERG [The superwealthy are snatching up superyachts as pandemic presents]( BY ARCHIE BLAND [“It’s not over and they have to fix what they did”: An Afghan refugee demands the US not forget her family]( BY FERNANDA ECHAVARRI Advertisement [Tisbest]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [They Went to Bible College to Deepen Their Faith. Then They Were Assaulted—and Blamed for It.]( At Moody Bible Institute, purity culture and complementarianism have worked together to forgive abusers and punish the abused. BY BECCA ANDREWS [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755