Newly unveiled text messages shed light on how two key congressional allies of former President Donald Trump initially went along with the president's bid to challenge the 2020 election but then quickly became skeptical of the endeavor.
More than 100 text messages Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas sent to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows between November 2020 and January 2021 obtained by the Jan. 6 committee were published by CNN and verified by a source to the Washington Examiner.The text messages demonstrate that Lee and Roy were scrambling to get confirmation about allegations of election fraud and fight on behalf of Trump, the source said.
Lee then told Meadows that Powell visited a few Republican senators to strategize about ways to challenge the election results. A few weeks later, however, he began expressing misgivings about Powell and called for Trump to disassociate from her after the RNC press conference. "If a very small handful of states were to have their legislatures appoint alternative slates of delegates, there could be a path," Lee said on Dec. 8, 2020. Meadows replied,"I am working on that as of yesterday."
"I don’t think the president is grasping the distinction between what we can do and what he would like us to do. Nor do I think he’s grasping the distinction between what certain members are saying that sound like they could help him, but would really hurt him. He’s got a very real opportunity for a win in 2024. That opportunity could be harmed in multiple ways this effort," he texted on Jan. 3, 2021.
"We must urge the President to tone down the rhetoric, and approach the legal challenge firmly, intelligently and effectively without resorting to throwing wild desperate haymakers, or whipping his base into a conspiracy frenzy," he texted.