Late last year, the House committee investigating the lead-up and actions the day of the Jan. 6 Capitol siege dropped a not-so-shocking reveal: Multiple Fox News stars, like the former president’s own son, had frantically texted with the Trump team that day, attempting to get him to call off his violent supporters. One of them was Sean Hannity, frequent Trump softball interviewer. But now we’re learning there was more where that came from.
The Committee is seeking information from Sean Hannity.
Chair @BennieGThompson and Vice Chair @RepLizCheney request Hannity answer questions about matters including communications between Hannity and the former President, Mark Meadows, and others in the days surrounding Jan 6th. pic.twitter.com/wXtOGSsneg
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) January 4, 2022
On Tuesday, the committee asked for Hannity’s “voluntary cooperation” with the investigation. Why? Because it turns out he didn’t just text the Trump team on Jan. 6. He’d been texting them about Jan. 6 for at least a week prior. On Dec. 31, 2020, Hannity texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, warning him that the plan to lure his supporters to D.C. the day Congress was set to certify the 2020 election wouldn’t go well:
“We can’t lose the entire WH counsels office. I do NOT see January 6 happening the way he is being told. After the 6 th. He should announce will lead the nationwide effort to reform voting integrity. Go to Fl and watch Joe mess up daily. Stay engaged. When he speaks people will listen.”
In their letter beckoning him, the committee said that text in particular “suggests that you had knowledge of concerns by Trump’s White House Counsel’s Office regarding the legality of the former President’s plans for January 6th.”
On Jan. 5, the day before the failed insurrection, Hannity texted Meadows again. “Im very worried about the next 48 hours,” he wrote. Other texts strongly suggested he’d spoken with Trump about his plans to subvert the election he lost by over seven million votes.
But wait, there’s more. In the days after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, leading to five deaths, Hannity conversed with both Meadows and Trumpist representative Jim Jordan.
“Guys, we have a clear path to land the plane in 9 days. He can’t mention the election again. Ever,” Hannity wrote to them. “I did not have a good call with him today. And worse, I’m not sure what is left to do or say, and I don’t like not knowing if it’s truly understood. Ideas?”
Hannity is unlikely to face any punishment from Fox News for advising Trump on a violent event he would later downplay. He’s also almost certainly going to take the Jan. 6 committee’s invitation. As one person close to Hannity bluntly told The Daily Beast, “Why would Sean cooperate with them?”
(Via The Daily Beast)