Mark Meadows January 5 Email Says National Guard Was on Standby To Protect "Trump People"

(Photo : ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows speaks on his phone as he waits for US President Donald Trump to depart the White House on October 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. - Trump travels to Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota for campaign rallies. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

According to records obtained by the House committee investigating the Capitol incident, which the panel revealed in a public filing Sunday night, Mark Meadows stated in a Jan. 5 email that the National Guard was on standby to "protect pro-Trump people."

The message's context is unknown, but it comes amid increasing criticism of the Guard's tardy reaction to the Capitol violence on Jan. 6, as well as inconsistent timeframes from the Pentagon and National Guard leadership.

Meadows faces criminal contempt

It's unknown who Meadows, Donald Trump's former White House chief of staff, communicated the information to or whether it was the product of any intelligence given by the Defense Department, as per POLITICO.

The discussion, however, is of particular interest to congressional investigators looking into whether Trump played a role in the three-hour wait between the Capitol Police's urgent call for Guard assistance and their eventual arrival at the Capitol, which pro-Trump rioters had overtaken.

The comment is also consistent with testimony from former Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, who indicated that on January 3, Trump instructed him to "do whatever was required to safeguard the protestors who were expressing their constitutionally guaranteed rights."

The description of the communication is part of a 51-page document released by the select panel on Sunday, a day before it decides to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress. Meadows is expected to be charged with criminal contempt of Congress by the House on Tuesday, Daily Mail reported.

A 38-page plan for reversing President Joe Biden's election victory allegedly included declaring a national security emergency and invalidating all electronically cast ballots.

As part of the pile of materials he was forced to hand up in the House's continuing investigation, Mark Meadows presented a PowerPoint presentation headed 'Election Fraud, Foreign Interference, and Options for 6 JAN' with the Capitol Hill committee on January 5.

Its existence was revealed by Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, the lone Democrat representing Mississippi in Congress, in a letter to Meadows's lawyer informing him that the panel had "no choice" but to move forward with a criminal referral against the ex-White House Chief of Staff for refusing to appear for a deposition.

He is one of several persons in Donald Trump's orbit who have been subpoenaed by the committee for their roles in the Stop the Steal protest that preceded the Capitol attack. The House Democrats have stated that a vote to send Meadows to the criminal justice system will take place on Tuesday. The explosive ppt contained in an email discussion with Meadows was allegedly posted online.

Panel set to vote on holding Meadows in contempt

On Monday, the House panel probing the Jan. 6 Capitol insurgency is expected to recommend contempt charges against former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as legislators release additional information about the hundreds of emails and texts he has turned up to the committee.

The nine-member panel published a 51-page report on Sunday evening outlining its reservations about the papers he has previously produced, including 6,600 pages of information collected from personal email accounts and almost 2,000 text conversations in setting out the case for the contempt vote.

The documents were not released, although the panel did detail some of them. Meadows' efforts to help Donald Trump overturn his presidential election defeat are detailed in the report, as are communications with members of Congress and organizers of a rally held the morning of the insurgency, as well as frantic messages among aides and others as the violent attack unfolded that day.

Per ABC News, the panel also wants to hear if Trump was involved in deliberations concerning the National Guard's reaction, which was delayed for hours as the violence increased and protesters severely battered officers defending the Capitol building.