Logs show 10 House Republicans attended White House meeting on pressuring Pence
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Ten Republican members of Congress attended a Dec. 21 White House meeting focused on efforts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to help overturn the 2020 election, according to the Jan. 6 committee.
Why it matters: The revelation underscores how deep the involvement of some lawmakers were in former President Trump's schemes to overturn the election even after the electoral college met to affirm President Biden's victory.
Driving the news: Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) said at a hearing on Tuesday that White House visitor logs reveal 10 members were physically in attendance:
- Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas)
- Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.)
- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)
- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)
- Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.)
- Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.)
- Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.)
- Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)
- Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.)
- Now-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)
The backdrop: Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told the panel in closed-door testimony that members "felt that [Pence] had the authority to ... [send] the electors back to the States," according to a court filing from April.
- Hutchinson noted that "they dialed in a few Members over the course of that meeting."
- She mentioned two members – Reps. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) and Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) – who were not in the visitor logs cited by Murphy.
The committee unveiled multiple pieces of new evidence about the planning of the meeting:
- A note on Trump's private schedule for the day about a 2:00 pm "private meeting with Republican members of Congress" in the Oval Office.
- Pence, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani were all in attendance, according to Murphy.
- Brooks said in an email setting up the meeting, with the subject line "White House meeting Dec. 21 regarding Jan. 6," that he said he hadn't recruited other lawmakers into the "Jan. 6 effort" because "only citizens can exert the necessary influence on Senators and Congressmen."
What they're saying: Murphy tied the meeting to the testimony of former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donohue at a previous hearing.
- Donohue said that Trump told him to have the Justice Department "just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen."
- She also noted that the committee has played testimony indicating that several of the members in the meeting later requested pardons after Jan. 6.
Editor's note: This article has been corrected to reflect that Rep. Mo Brooks represents Alabama, not Georgia.
