Meadows received, but did nothing, with documentation detailed ways to sabotage the 2020 election, attorneys say, in NYT report
The 38-page document, among thousands of documents Meadows provided to the House committee investigating the January 6 uprising at the U.S. Capitol, was originally circulated by a retired Army colonel. retiree, who is working to challenge the results, according to the Times. . CNN has not independently verified the content of PowerPoint.
Phil Waldron, a retired colonel who spread misinformation about voter fraud during the presidential election, told the Times that he circulated PowerPoints among allies of former President Donald Trump, including legislators on Capitol Hill. Waldron told the Times he didn’t send the document to Meadows directly, but it’s possible someone on his team passed it on to the former chief of staff.
The committee did not make that document publicly available and did not release any specific details about it.
Terwilliger told the New York Times that Meadows provided the document to the committee because he received it in an email and did nothing with it.
“We produced the material because it was not privileged,” Terwilliger told the Times.
CNN has reached out to Terwilliger for comment.
Waldron told the Times that Meadows “will get a copy for situational awareness for what was briefed on Hill at the time.”
Waldron told the newspaper that members of his team spoke to a group of senators on January 4, and he personally briefed a small group of House members the next day about PowerPoint content. He added that PowerPoint was made available to lawmakers. CNN has reached out to Waldron for comment.
The fact that Meadows received and owned a PowerPoint with this title was remarkable, regardless of the content of the document and what he did with it. CNN previously reported that Meadows played a central role in peddling election lies and attempting to use the power of the executive branch to interfere and disrupt the transition of power. peaceful way.
A separate, 36-page PowerPoint has been circulated on Twitter, but CNN has not confirmed the authenticity of the document, and the committee told CNN it differs from the document members owned.
In addition to PowerPoint, Meadows delivered a large number of text messages, including a November 6, 2020 text exchange with a member of Congress, where Meadows said “I like it” during a meeting. discuss the possibility of appointing alternative electors. in certain states, and members admitted the plan would be “major controversial.”
The committee also possesses a text exchange between Meadows and a January 6 rally organizer from early January 2021 and text messages about the need for Trump to issue some sort of statement. publicly announced to prevent the January 6 attacks on the Capitol.
CNN also previously reported that in the series of documents Meadows provided to the committee, he interacted “with a variety of people while the attack was ongoing,” according to a media-savvy source.
The source added that the messages on Meadows’ mobile phone and personal email account, which were delivered voluntarily without any request for executive privilege, were related to “what Donald Trump is doing and not doing in the riot.”
These communications provide a window into what people messaged Meadows on January 6, what he was telling them about Trump in real time, and what the former President was doing in real time. those hours while the Capitol was under attack and rioters were chanting “Mike Pence’s Cave,” according to the source.
According to multiple sources, including former Trump officials and others with first-hand knowledge of what is happening behind the scenes at the White House, Meadows has also been in contact with several national security officials. leading the country in an effort to connect them with Trump allies who have pushed baseless claims of foreign election interference and voter fraud.
Not only did Meadows try to get government officials to investigate baseless conspiracy theories espoused by the likes of Rudy Giuliani, Mike Flynn, and Sidney Powell, but he also turned over the conspiracy documents himself, including YouTube videos and other information believed to be popular evidence of voters. fraud, sources said.
Despite the large volume of documents that Meadows delivered to the committee, he recently reversed course completely and decided to stop collaborating and not show up for scheduled appointments. As a result, the committee has begun criminal proceedings against Meadows, which the House is expected to vote on on Tuesday. If the crime report passes the House, it will be forwarded to the Department of Justice, which will have to decide whether to prosecute.
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