Donald Trump Jr. Pleaded with Mark Meadows to Urge His Father to Stop Capitol Insurrection, Texts Reveal

Evan Vucci/AP/Shutterstock From left: Donald Trump, Allen Weisselberg and Donald Trump Jr.

Donald Trump's eldest son was among those who pleaded former chief of staff Mark Meadows to urge the former president to condemn the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

On Monday, the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection voted to recommend that Meadows be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify to investigators.

During a briefing where the recommendation was announced, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming read aloud a text conversation in which Donald Trump Jr. begged Meadows to encourage Trump to take stronger action against the rioters.

"He's got to condemn this s--- ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough," a text sent by Trump Jr. to Meadows read, according to Cheney. (Trump Jr. is likely referring to a tweet from Trump on the afternoon of the insurrection that asked rioters to"remain peaceful" and "please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement.")

Meadows responded to Trump Jr., writing: "I'm pushing it hard. I agree," Cheney revealed.

In a series of follow-up texts, Trump Jr. continued: "We need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand."

RELATED: Judge Says Trump Can't Block Jan. 6 Committee's Access to Records: 'Presidents Are Not Kings'

The texts come from a series of messages that Meadows provided to the committee, which show that lawmakers, administration officials, and multiple Fox News personalities were among those who urged Meadows to level with the president about the attack.

"Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy," Fox News host Laura Ingraham wrote, according to Cheney.

Sean Hannity asked: "Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol."

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Another text Meadows received from an unidentified person read: "We are under siege here at the Capitol."

After reading the messages aloud, Cheney said that the committee would be recommending that the House of Representatives hold Meadows in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for a deposition. The decision will now go to a full House vote.

Samuel Corum/Getty Rioters at the U.S. Capitol

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Meadows is one of several former Trump administration officials who is facing a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee. Others include former senior advisers to the president Stephen Miller and Jason Miller, former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, manager of the Trump 2020 reelection campaign Bill Stepien and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

Trump is also among those compelled to bring forward relevant documents, after a judge denied the former president's request to block the committee from seeing records related to the planning, execution and response to events on Jan. 6.

Trump sued the Jan. 6 committee and the National Archives in October, citing executive privilege and claiming that a demand for records was "nothing less than a vexatious, illegal fishing expedition openly endorsed by Biden and designed to unconstitutionally investigate President Trump and his administration."

RELATED: Rep. Liz Cheney Says She's 'Honored' to Be Named to Jan. 6 Commission amid Republican Backlash

However, in a ruling last month, the judge asserted that a current president has the right to ignore a former president's assertion of executive privilege, which Joe Biden did in October by instructing the National Archives to turn over documents related to the investigation.

The former president "does not acknowledge the deference owed to the incumbent President's judgement. His position that he may override the express will of the executive branch appears to be premised on the notion that his executive power 'exists in perpetuity,' " U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan said in the ruling. "But Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President. He retains the right to assert that his records are privileged, but the incumbent President 'is not constitutionally obliged to honor' that assertion."

According to the judge's decision, the committee is seeking written communications, calendar entries, videos, photographs or other media related to Trump's Jan. 6 speech and rally, the march that followed, the violence at the Capitol and the White House's response.