Another testified, “We heard the news on Pence,” adding, “So we stormed.”
The Justice Department has also been examining the ways in which Mr. Trump’s attacks on Mr. Pence influenced the mob. In recent plea negotiations in some Jan. 6 cases, prosecutors have asked defense lawyers whether their clients would admit in sworn statements that they stormed the Capitol believing that Mr. Trump wanted them to stop Mr. Pence from certifying the election.
In theory, such statements could help connect the violence at the Capitol directly to Mr. Trump’s demand that Mr. Pence help him stave off defeat.
The letter also revealed text messages from allies of Mr. Trump who believed he was going too far in his attempts to overturn the election. One message, from an unidentified member of the House Freedom Caucus who was aware of the president’s plans, warned Mr. Meadows that “if POTUS allows this to occur … we’re driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic.”
After Jan. 6, Mr. Meadows and Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, who has refused to cooperate with the committee, received a text message from Sean Hannity, a Fox News host, laying out recommendations for how Mr. Trump should behave.
“He can’t mention the election again. Ever,” Mr. Hannity wrote on Jan. 10, according to the committee. “I did not have a good call with him today. And worse, I’m not sure what is left to do or say.”
The letter is the committee’s latest step to try to obtain information from Mr. Trump’s inner circle, including his family, about the events that led up to the Capitol riot. The panel has also sought logs of phone calls and text messages between the former president’s son Eric Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of another son, Donald Trump Jr., according to CNN.
