The House Select Committee investigating the insurrection on January 6 has formally voted to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in criminal contempt of Congress.  The vote was unanimous and now goes to the full House which will also likely approve the recommendation and forward it to the Department of Justice for prosecution.

What was remarkable about Monday’s hearing was previously unheard evidence read aloud by GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.  In a powerful presentation Cheney read texts to Meadows from Donald Trump, Jr., Fox News hosts and unidentified members of Congress begging him to tell the president to call off the rioters.

—@Liz_Cheney reads texts sent by Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Brian Kilmeade, and Donald Trump Jr. to Mark Meadows during the insurrection, imploring him to get Trump to do something. pic.twitter.com/mgzFeHiHsy

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 14, 2021

"There's an armed standoff at the House chamber door," was one text. "We are all helpless," was another.

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 14, 2021

And then Rep. Adam Schiff read texts from lawmakers to Meadows:

Schiff reads texts from Republican lawmakers to Meadows, including one on January 7 that said, "We tried everything we could in our objection to the 6 states. I'm sorry nothing worked."

"That is chilling," Schiff says. "We would like to ask Mr Meadows what he thought about that" pic.twitter.com/IgRyUzmoOu

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 14, 2021

Keep in mind all the Republicans and right-wing media who have hypocritically played down the insurrection saying for months that it was “Antifa” or “tourists” visiting the Capitol. In truth, they were begging Trump to call off the rioters.

Here are Cheney’s complete remarks:

So you are telling me all these Fox News hosts knew the coup was terrible, begged Trump to stop it, and when he didn't they kept on promoting him? That's on record now? In the texts?

— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) December 14, 2021