this is the mike lee you meet in public. that was on television on a day when he knew many would be watching, january 6th. and you get the impression of ap honest conservative, very concerned about the state of democracy. ask yet, this is what he was secretory texting. cnn first obtained these in their scoop. nbc verified the texts for our coverage. lee told chief of staff nosk 7th, exhaust every constitutional remedy and raefring to one of trump's most controversial lawyers, he has really interesting research on this. that is the lawyer that was pushing the coup plans. bob woodward, no knows his way around white house corruption has a report lee was shocked to receive a memo on skraurn 2nd about seven states transmitting duel states of electors. but interesting research back in november. it's up to mike lee to clarify kr he seemed so supportive of going down this road in private. on december 8th, lee also texted chief of staff if a very small handful of states were to have their legislature appoint al tern tichb slates of e

the majority of the state wants to replace mike lee. he is very concerned about the. -- >> looks like we might be having some problems with evan mcmullin right now. so, what we will do right now is go to a commercial, if we can. if not, we can wait and see if not we can get evan mcmullin back. nope, still no evan mcmullin. 're clearly different. you sell high commission investment products, right? (fisher investments) nope. fisher avoids them. (other money manager) well, you must earn commissions on trades. (fisher investments) never at fisher. (other money manager) ok, then you probably sneak in some hidden and layered fees. (fisher investments) no. we structure our fees so we do better when clients do better. that might be why most of our clients come from other money managers. at fisher investments, we're clearly different. [sound of helicopter blades] ugh... they found me. ♪ ♪ nice suits, you guys blend right in. the world needs you back. i'm retired greg, you know this. people have their money just sitting around doing nothing.

instead, he got mike lee on the phone by mistake. he asked yes mike lee is a republican. but there was a reason that the president was not calling him on purpose to try to get him to go along with his scheme to overturn the election. senator lee was not a vocal public proponent of trump's big lie. he voted in favor of certifying the vote for joe biden. mike lee told journalist bob woodward that he personally looked into some of trump's claims of supposed voter fraud and did not think any of it checked out. he said he disagree that vice president mike pence had the authority to stop the certification of the election. by all public accounts, mike lee portrayed himself as a proud defender of the constitution, someone with absolute fidelity to it. but it turns, out in private, lee it was actually just pushing for a different way to overturn the election. today's cnn first obtained text messages that senator lee sent to the presidents chief of staff, mark meadows, in a few weeks after the election. these are text messages that have been turned over to the january 6th investiga

instead, he got mike lee on the phone by mistake. and yes, mike lee is a republican. but there was a reason that the president was not calling him on purpose, to try to get him to go along with his scheme to overturn the election. senator lee was not a vocal public proponent of trump's big lie. he voted in favor of certifying the vote for joe biden. mike lee told journalist bob woodward that he personally looked into some of trump's claims of supposed voter fraud and did not think any of it checked out. he said he disagreed that vice president mike pence had the authority to stop the certification of the election. by all public accounts, mike lee portrayed himself as a proud defender of the constitution, someone with absolute fidelity to it. but it turns out that in private, lee it was actually just pushing for a different way to overturn the election. today cnn first obtained text messages that senator lee sent to the presidents chief of staff, mark meadows, a few weeks after the election. these are text messages that have been turned over to the january 6th investig

senator mike lee of utah earlier today. doing his best to pretend to not hear questions from reporters. about something we have covered here recently on the show. senator mike lee's text messages, recently revealed by cnn. showing that senator lee was privately trying to help president trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election results. despite publicly saying at the time that he didn't support the scheme. saying he was shocked to learn about it just days before the january 6th attacks. but brian, a political reporter, has been trying to get a response from senator lee. and at events across the state of utah. here he was yesterday. >> senator lee, why did you lie about your involvement in the trump white house? senator lee why won't you answer questions about this? >> that reporter, tweeted that video this morning. this is what it's like now for local reporters trying to get answers from utah's senior senator about his involvement in a plot to overturn the election. today utah's other big newspaper, published their own pi

he had said in another publication that he and mike lee were working on something else. we still don't know what that is. so this seemed a little bit off to me ever since that came out. and when these text messages came out, i wish i was surprised at some of the things that they showed but i wasn't. >> you're obviously a much closer observer of utah politics than anybody in my position can be, but it seems to me like senator lee's problem here, may not be with his constituents, that he tried to aid the white house, in coming up with a way to overturn the election results, and keep trump in power and trump lost, it seems to me that that is not that comfortable among supporters in republican politics in utah but i can't imagine it won't be a problem for him to have lied about it, to have mischaracterized his involvement, when he first learned that it was happening, what his reaction was when he first learned what eastman was doing. that lying to the hometown press and reporters, lying public about what he was doing at the time, that at leigh least from the out -- at least

mike lee sort of styles himself a constitutional conservative. he created this faint that he cares so much and so deeply about the constitution. here is the january 3rd text from mike lee to mark meadows and this is about ted cruz. he says i have grave concerns with the way my friend ted is going about this effort. lee objected to avenues cruise and josh hawley implying they were self-serving. it seems his objections to what is being done, he didn't like the look of going against the constitution and substituting congress' will. he didn't like the fact josh hawley and lee are trying to serve their own political interest. i don't see in these text messages any real concern for our democracy. >> no, none. next question. of course not. they don't care. look. what's remarkable. mark meadows got 100 text messages here. we learned he got text messages from him and donald trump juior sent to mark meadows. any idea you have for a coup, send it to mark meadows and the lucky winner gets to pick the coup. i'm not going to see this happen. this is exhibit 1

lee, ginni thomas, mike lee, why don't they are more staying power in our -- ? >> i want how much of the mainstream media is worried about bias, the truth has a democratic bias. we have seen research about, that right. the idea that a lot of republicans, one of the reasons why they are leaving the debate is because they don't like the fact checking. so i wonder how much of this as mainstream media's anxiety about looking partisan, especially the right are so committed to making mainstream media very worried. i definitely think the argument that people don't care about that is wrong, the media's job is to make the people care about things. that is what they do. and certainly, democrats could push harder and have more hearings and -- >> yes, definitely the democrats could do more to make people care, to force the media coverage. we will come back to that in a moment. i just wonder also, in addition to the both sides, journalists working the rafts successfully as it goes. there is this problem we have to be honest and open about, which is the sheer volume of all th

he did not care whether or not there was evidence or not. >> let me just read more from mike lee here. he writes, closer to january 6th, i only know that this will end badly for the president unless we have the constitution on our side and unless the states submit new selectors according to state law. it never happened. it gets to consciousness of guilt. mark meadows certainly knew. >> right. he basically was saying this was a violation of the constitution to proceed with trying to overturn the election and that getting certificates from the states, if you didn't have the valid certificates of states, that would be a violation of the constitution. and yet donald trump, on january 5, is trying to get mike pence, brow beating him, bullying him into trying to not count the valid electoral certificates that were signed and sealed and reflected the actual victory of joe biden. . >> does this in any way hurt the former president in terms of whatever legal case he might face? . >> i think it should. because i think the contrast, whether it's admissable into evidence i would say for another d

text messages show senator mike lee assisting trump efforts to over see the 2020 election. text messages show really knew of scheme to send alternate electors to congress, nearly a month earlier than he claimed. that sort of thing, of course, is a brutal headline for a senator to wake up to in his hometown paper. but it's getting worse for him, just today the salt lake tribune has released a new editorial under this headline, saturdays used tossed a republican convention would be a great place for mike lee to come clean. quote, it's past time for my mike lee to start fessing up to all he knows about the plot to satisfied the results of an honest and fair election, in order to keep donald trump in power. we know utah senior senator had a much greater role now plot than he is previously acknowledged. his constituents deserve a much more detailed accounting of what went on, and the extent of senator lee's participation in it. the editorial continues, quote, yesterday would be a great time for lee to come clean, saturday's utah state republican convention would be a really good

dozens of next messages between then trump chief of staff mark meadows and mike lee and chip roy. those texts discussing trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. these texts show that senator lee in particular went from, i want to offer words of encouragement to the president in november, to encouraging trump and his aidites to empowe sidney powell and then concluding closer to inauguration day and january 6th that, very few senators would in the end object to the election results. finally, quote, i know only that this will end badly for the president unless we have the constitution on our side. with me to discuss their reporting, sabrina siddiqui of "the wall street journal," cnn plus anchor kasie hunt and politico's laura barron-lopez. it is remarkable to go through these texts and, again, props to our cnn team, ryan nobles and his colleagues. it shows you at a time when it would have been helpful if the president's allies in congress said, stop. stop. from election day -- early on, there was encouragement from the people, senator lee, maybe had -- could have had the presi

text messages show mike lee assisting trump efforts to overturn 2020 election. newly released text messages show lee knew of scheme to send trump a month before claimed. it's getting worse for him, just today, the salt lake tribune released another editorial, saturday's utah state republican convention would be a great place for mike lee to come clean. quote, it's time for lee to start fessing up to all he knows about the plot to set aside the results of an honest and fair election to keep donald trump in power. we know the senior senator had a much greater role. his constituents deserve a much more detailed accounting of what went on and the extent of senator lee's participation in it. the editorial continue, quote, yesterday would be a great time for senator lee to come clean. saturday's state republican convention would be a really good opportunity for that too. so, the january 6 debacle is proceeding on a whole lot of different levels now. georgia republican congresswoman marjorie taylor greene tonight is facing a legal challenge about her eligibility to run

text messages show senator mike lee assisting trump efforts to over see the 2020 election. text messages show really knew of scheme to send alternate electors to congress, nearly a month earlier than he claimed. that sort of thing, of course, is a brutal headline for a senator to wake up to in his hometown paper. but it's getting worse for him, just today the salt lake tribune has released a new editorial under this headline, saturdays used tossed a republican convention would be a great place for mike lee to come clean. quote, it's past time for my colleague to start fessing up to all he knows about the plot to satisfied the results of an honest and fair election, in order to keep donald trump in power. we know utah senior senator had a much greater role now plot than he is previously acknowledged. his constituents deserve a much more detailed accounting of what went on, and the extent of senator leaves participation in it. the editorial continues, quote, yesterday would be a great time for lee to come clean, saturdays utah state republican convention would be a really goo

two days later, mike lee is looking for answers. he's asking mark meadows, please tell me what i should be saying. it's not clear if meadows actually gave instruction after that. but it does show mike lee, really at this point, mid-november, late november, looking to the white house for guidance. now, like congressman roy -- or senator lee also reaches a point where he starts to become clearly concerned. mid-december, he's warning mark meadows. i think we've passed the point where we can expect anyone can do it without strong direction. now, the senator is talking about recruiting other senators to vote to overturn the 2020 election. he's making it clear to the white house chief of staff that they need evidence to do it. on january 3rd, three days before the capitol riot, senator mike lee makes clear to mark meadows again, i know only that this will end badly for the president unless we have the constitution on our side. alex and christi, we know now they did not and we know it did end badly. and for the country three days later. >>

>> well, most utahans want to replace mike lee. a majority of the state does. for some of the reasons that you just detailed and others. but the challenges that they are divided, it majority is divided between democrats, principaled republicans and independents and third parties like the united utah party. and so the entire strategy and task of my campaign is to unite this existing majority for this purpose. to replace mike lee, to protect our democratic republic, and to help our state and our country overcome the major challenges that it faces. so i was very encouraged that democratic delegates voted to join our coalition. the same is true for the united utah party. they voted to join our coalition and so it grows and we're very encouraged by that and optimistic we could build this coalition and be successful in november. >> and we showed one of the texts that senator lee sent to mark meadows an sent one talking about former trump attorney sidney powell which said she's saying that she needed to get into to see the president but being kept away from him. appar

like roy, senator mike lee started out hopeful for a path to challenge the election results. he touted the work of conservative lawyer sydney powell. encouraging meadows to get her an audience with the president. less than two weeks later he appeared with rudy giuliani in an infamous press conference where they made wild, base let claims about the election. >> president trump won by a land slide. we will prove it. >> lee changed his tune, calling powell a liability. lee pushed a plan to convince state legislatures to offer up a set of alternate electors. when that plan fizzled, he decided he was not on board. he said i think we're past the point that we can expect anyone to do it without some dreirecti in the strong -- >> our job is to open and then count. open then count. that's it. that's all there is. >> privately, they were more emphatic about the fool's errand trump's team was on. the president should call every one off. it's the only path, roy texted mea meadows. lee argued it was on dangerous constitution ground. he warned i know only this will end badly for the presid

didn't have mike lee. and then the texts come out that he was active. not just might vote at the end, he's plotting for what it would take to get his vote, which again sheds more light on the january claims about peter novare r who told us about the list of members of congress. the texts, what everyone thinks of his admissions, the texts bear out that may have been true. here's what he said about that. >> the plan was simply this. we had over 100 congressmen and senators on capitol hill ready to implement the sweep. at 1:00 p.m., ted cruz and gosar representative started the green bay sweep beautifully challenged the results. >> was mike lee one of those people on that list? >> this was peter navarro who was working at the white house saying the plan, we had a plan. who was the we? he was working for the president. and as you say, thank god it was a failed coup to sub vrt election, but he tried. he fired the secretary of defense and put in some stooges there. the chairman of the joint chiefs was worried en

mike lee tries three different attempts. first, he wants sydney powell in there. then he cannot believe the false and defamatory thing she is saying. then he wants john eastman to have a crack at overturning the election. and then he wants the fake elector plot or the alternative electors to perhaps be put forward. and windows do not materialize, only then does he say, well, i cannot go forward with this and you have got to back off this. chip roy does a similar thing. he goes and investigates alleged election fraud down in georgia. and when no election fraud materializes, he says, guys, we have to call this whole thing off. but there were so many people who, despite that lack of evidence, decided to go ahead with it anyway. 147 republicans in congress voted to object to joe biden's victory. that was a majority of the house of representatives. >> well, you say that these texts offer sort of a window into republican beliefs of these false claims of voter fraud. are we going to see a lot more of that when we get more texts messages in the coming weeks and months? th

one of those is mike lee, utah, you want for reelection in utah in november. we know what a deep red republican state utah is, but he's facing an interesting race and an independent candidate evane mcmullen, some would say it divides the field, but some would say it gives conservative leaning option to stay with mike lee. he has a lot of explaining to do to the right-hand side of utah. >> danielle we've had heard a lot about tesla ceo elon musk, who has made a $43 billion offer for twitter to, quote, build an arena for free speech. musk has accused twitter of censors its users. are you concerned what musk is trying to do is open up the platform for more misinformation about topics such as covid-19 and the 2020 election? perhaps even allow former president trump to get his account back? >> i mean, i'm going to be honest. elon musk is a danger to twitter and to freedom of speech. he has been known to say some of the most trancephobic and homophobic things to his millions of followers. createn an arena of hate? that's what it sounds like, an opportunity to have n

both chip roy and mike lee did not go along with the certification on january 6th itself. what does the evolution tell you here? >> they questioned their colleagues who did go forward with it. i think the evolution tells you what we already knew, that there was no evidence and that people knew it at the time. there was a long period of time from the days after the election in which many republicans thought let's give it some time to see if evidence emerges, but clearly based on these text messages, before the start of the new year, many republicans in washington and elsewhere around the country knew there was no there there. there was no evidence, long before january 6th, and yet, many of their colleagues continued forward. and it just tells you that all of this is a farce. there are a lot of people out here claiming that it is partisanship to say that these election claims are false, when in fact people on both sides of the aisles knew this then. >> maggie, roy and lee saying help me help you, and they clearly never got the help they thought they needed. >> no, that's rig

mike lee is one of 100 senators, one of two the represents the state of utah. and instead of actually doing his job, working for his utah constituents, he is texting mark meadows about how he was calling state legislators for hours trying to basically find a loophole, to help overturn a free and fair election. so, facing mounting public pressure, senator lee agreed to sit down with a local paper, the oldest daily paper in utah, the desert news, where he confessed his complicity in an attempted coup. quote, from the outset of this, i spent an enormous amount of my time doing my job, with only one objective in mind. particularly, once the electoral votes were cast, my objective was to figure out what's, if any role, congress had. this is according to ali. lee acknowledged that he encouraged the trump campaign to explore legal options to challenge election results, including recounts, and audits, and the time to raise those claims was limited. with senator lee is describing, and let's be clear about it, is the coup attempt. the plan was always to use the levers of

and mike lee said i didn't learn about any of this until january 2nd. since november 23rd, he had been working on the plot. i think we need to get some of these people under oath, including mike lee, and at what point did these people know what they were doing was not to just enable people to elect the candidate of their choice, but they were interfering, overturning the will of the people. >> to that point, what kind of legal jeopardy could these messages put senator lee and roy in? >> all of their conduct, including the texts, put them in jeopardy. i think jennifer is completely correct, particularly with the withdrawal from the conspiracy where -- remember, both of them voted to confirm the election, because at some point they both accepted the reality and the facts that president biden or at that time vice president biden had won the election and he was entitled to the vote of the electoral college and to be inaugurated. they both did reject the ultimate thing, but they were pushing, particularly senator lee for sidney powell, and then when she was

mike lee just voted against ketanji brown jackson for the supreme court because he said she wouldn't uphold the constitution. my god, these texts show this guy was -- thick into the plotting of this from the start. going to far as to call sydney powell a straight shooter and say the white house should meet with her. then when powell seemed insane to the self-proclaimed constitutionalist mike lee, he then pivoted to the next most insane person, john eastman and told the white house to listen to this guy. all of this explains why the politics have been the way they are which has made this almost a partisan thing when it shouldn't be. i think this evidence can be used in a justice department investigation. >> jill, i want to go to you on this. stephen miller goes and talks to january 6th committee. he's hostile. he's angry. he does his whole sort of kavanaugh thing. i understand he's been committed to this movement all along. what could be next for someone like him? if he goes in and lies, is he the next likely person to be kicked upstairs to merrick garland? will he be able to walk fre

neither office denied the authenticity of these text messages, senator mike lee's office telling us he was transparent during this time frame and nothing in the texts contradicts his public statements, meanwhile, congressman chip roy tweeted about our story this afternoon said quote, i'm only going to say this once, no apologies for my private texts or public positions to those on the left or the right. i stand behind seeking truth, fi fighting nonsense and acting in defense of the constitution, jim, of course, these texts in possession of the january 6th select committee. >> and they are very troubling messages indeed. all right, cnn's ryan nobles thank you very much. >>> coming up, the big obstacles standing in the way of the united nations responding to rurush russssia's invasion of ukraine. ♪ ♪ ♪ you're probably thinking that these two are in some sort of lover's quarrel. no, no, no. they're both insted... in green energy. and also each other. digital tools so impressiv you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? thinkorswim® by td ameritrade is more than a tra

short mike lee and congressman chip roy exchanged text messages with then chief of staff mark meldos. senator lee pledged unequivocal support for you to exhaust every legal and constitutional -- that same day representative roy wrote, we need ammo, we need fraud examples, we need it this weekend. it seems bick december, however, the two lawmakers began to realize they may have made a mistake in trying to upend democracy and overturn the will of the people. on new year's eve, roy warned, the president should call everyone off. if we substitute the will of the state with a vote by congress every four years, we have destroyed the electoral college, quote. the end, next day, he added po -- lee argued this would end badly for the president unless we have the constitution on our side and unless they states have new stye electors pursuant to state law. we do not. in the end both men voted to certify president biden's win, but these texts detail how explicit they were in pushing the lie. chip roy, in response, wrote -- been off social media this good friday, but apparently there's quite a sti

november 9, senator mike lee text this. i don't think the president is grasping the distinction between what we can do and what he would like us to do. i know only that this will end badly for the president. unless the states submit new slates pursuant to state law we do not, we do not have the constitution on our side he is saying. he seems to have mental awareness and knowledge on the 9th that it is unconstitutional for the congress to override the will of the voters. i wonder if that is important to the january 6 committee and if they asked him for an interview. >> i would think it would be quite important. you see him trying to draw very slim distinction between pressuring mike pence and pressuring the state lawmakers to putt forward these electors for donald trump in states where he didn't win. i think most people see there's not a distinction there. it's attempts to pressure people to defy the will of the voters. as for the committee interviewing him, i would count on that. it is a house committee and seem to be very

senator mike lee was part of this. of course remember how many of those republicans, more than 100 republican lawmakers, voted to decertify joe biden's victory on january 6th. that number can't be repeated enough. >> by the way, you have mike lee trying to cover his tracks from what he tried to do in subverting democracy. mel brooks suddenly is going, oh, no, mr. president. everybody is trying to cover their tracks now. too late. too late. you're either for democracy, for free elections, even when your side loses, or you're not. >> so a columnist has a new piece for "new york times" entitled "a biden bloodbath?" he writes -- "biden is a decent man as matter of course and tactic he strikes me as not entirely built for hyperbole and hype, for beating his chest while he boasts. it's not part of his character. he is soesh and straightforward. many americans wanted him as an antidote to donald trump for precisely this reason, but america has changed its mind and its mood. it wants a show and a showman to distract from its m

now, that might sound like mike lee cheerleading donald trump's attempt to overturn the election, but it was not. senator lee consistently communicated the need to produce real evidence for real legal challenges. there is no indication that senator lee really believed there would be any real evidence for any real legal challenges. congressman roy echoed that approach, texting meadows, approach the legal challenge firmly, intelligently and effectively without resorting to throwing wild, desperate haymakers or whipping his base into a conspiracy frenzy. on november 19th, when the deranged legal team of legal giuliani and powell held a press conference with giuliani's dripping hair dye, producing the biggest headlines, senator lee texted meadows, i'm worried about the powell press conference. the potential defamation liability for the significant president is significant here. unless powell can backup everything she said, which i kind of doubt she can. meadows responds, quote, i agree. very concerned. so, there is mark meadows saying that he is very concerned about the crazy trump lawyer

now, that might sound like mike lee cheerleading donald trump's attempt to overturn the election, but it was not. senator lee consistently communicated the need to produce real evidence for real legal challenges. there is no indication that senator lee really believed there would be any real evidence for any real legal challenges. congressman roy echoed that approach, texting meadows, approach the legal challenge firmly, intelligently and effectively without resorting to throwing wild, desperate haymakers or whipping his base into a conspiracy frenzy. on november 19th, when the deranged legal team of giuliani and powell held a wild and line press conference with giuliani 's dripping hair dye producing the biggest headlines, senator lee texted meadows, i'm worried about the powell press conference. the potential defamation liability for the president to significant unless powell can back up everything she said, which i doubt she can. meadows responds, quote, i agree, very concerned. so, there is mark meadows saying that he is very concerned about the crazy trump lawyers on tv. congress

but that is what some were trying to do and that is the context for you mentioned mike lee. but we've reported that he's been ducking questions after his text leaked about this. now he is speaking out after the revelations that he was working directly repeatedly with not only chief of staff mark meadows during that period, when trump was trying to stay in office, but calling state legislators. now he told meadows it was time to exhaust every legal and constitutional remedy. now lee after appreciate is telling the news, in a 45-minute interview, he was not there to do the white house bidding. he was trying to figure out, quote, what was their message. when he was texting meadows about the elector plot, something we've interviewed trump aides about on this broadcast, and they said we need guidance on what arguments to raise. we can't expect anyone will do it without direction and a strong evidentiary argument and he was spending hours a day calling state legislators which is seems like someone would is being involved in submitting the other electors. you could call them fake o

the frightening story that cnn broke between the text messages of mike lee and chip roy. thank you so much for joining us this hold day weekend. appreciate this fiery and interesting conversation. >>> coming up don't go anywhere, more of "the cross connection" is coming up right after the break. stay with us. oming up right afte break. stay with us looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? once-weekly ozempic® can help. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. in adults also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. ozempic® helped me get back in my type 2 diabetes zone. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if alle

they were, of course, senator mike lee and tex tech congressman chip roy. >> the most interesting thing to me these texts show they knew they had nothing. they knew they had no actual evidence of voter fraud and you can see them going through the process. they're saying, boy, we really need to have some evidence to move forward here. then you see that moving to, uh-oh, we don't have any evidence and you see they carried on with this effort anyway, to steal the election with this fraudulent effort to claim there was voter fraud even though they had no evidence, and that's so corrosion because the defense that you will hear, you have heard, well, they thought they were really pursuing actual evidence of voter fraud. they thought they won and were entitled to contest this. it shows from really fairly early on they knew they had nothing, they knew this was a fraud this goes to their intent, to consciousness of guilt. >> i know you and i talk about whether mark meadows will be held in contempt. the meadows text messages have been a gold mine for investigators. he has done his part in their i

this body is missing in action and doing nothing. >> reporter: like roy, senator mike lee started out hopeful that there was a path to challenge the election results. in early november, he touted the work of conservative lawyer powell, encouraging meadows to get her an audience with the president, calling her a straight shooter. less than two weeks later, powell appeared with rudy giuliani in what would be an inf infamous press conference. lee changed his tune, calling powell a liability. turning his focus to touting attorney john eastman. lee pushed a plan to convince state legislatures to offer up a set of alternate electors. when that plan fizzled, lee decided he was no longer on board. he texted meadows on december 16, i think we are past the point where we can expect anyone will do it without some direction and a strong evidentiary argument. both lee and roy ultimately chose not to join other republicans to vote against certifying the election. >> our job is to open and then count, open then count, that's it, that's all there is. >> reporter: they were even more emphatic about th

. >> reporter: senator mike lee of utah, and congressman chip roy of texas. two of former president trump's most loyal defenders in congress. but in dozens of private texts to trump's chief of staff mark meld owes, a picture emerges of how both wend from aiding the election results to ultimately going against it. the texts obtained by cnn show how they were trying to help initially. but by the end, raised concerns to trump's top deputy about his campaign's effort to stand in the way of the certification of the election. we're driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic, roy warned meadows in a text mention on january 1st, that is in possession of the january 6th select committee. his stark warning came after weeks of begging meadows for hard evidence of election fraud and concerns of the lack of specific evidence was a really problem for the trump legal team. we must urge the president to tone down the rhetoric, he wrote to meadows. roy did believe there were problems with the election. in early december, he went to the house floor, imploring his col

. >> reporter: senator mike lee of utah, and congressman chip roy of texas. two of former president trump's most loyal defenders in congress. but in dozens of private texts to chief of staff mark meadows, a picture emerges on how both went from aiding the election results to ultimately warning against it. the texts obtained by cnn show how they were trying to help initially. by the end, raise concerns to trump's top deputy about his campaign's effort to stand in the way of the certification of the 2020 election. we're driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic, roy warned meadows in a text message on january 6th that is in possession of the january 6th she can committee. historic warning came after weeks of begging meadows and concerns that the lack of specific evidence was a really problem for the trump legal team. we must urge the president to tone down the rhetoric, he wrote to meadows on november 9th. roy did believe there were problems with the election. in early december, he went to the house floor, ill ploorg his colleagues to look into fraud

this is from 2020 when mike lee tweeted that democracy isn't the objective. liberty, peace and prosperity are. he laid out his understanding that we don't need a democracy. that in his mind it would be okay if we had the congress choose the president of his liking. as long as he got power, it's fine. they don't seem to have any red lines as long as they get power. and obama's speech was striking, because he's talking about the information universe that creates the base of people two would rather have a dictator and a fascist dictator at that, as long as they can feel comfortable in their own cultural skin. they feel like the culture is running from them, so they would rather have a dictator that would impose the culture they prefer rather than democracy. that's them. the leads, talk about the leaders. these are supposed to be men. i can count two men in the republican party. adam kinzinger and mitt romney. where are the men? and liz cheney is more a man than they are at this point. >> liz cheney, mitt romney, they are patriots and they have been able to come

here is what mike lee was saying. the potential defamation liability for the president is significant here. for the campaign, and for the president personally. unless powell can back up everything she said, which i kind of doubt she can. and meadow says i agree, very concerned. then later on in the area, you get to december and you have chip roy saying the president should call everyone off. it's the only path. if we substitute the will of states through electors with a vote through congress every four years, we have destroyed the electoral college so you see them souring and neither lee or roy were among the republicans agreeing to certify, told my colleagues lee had been transparent throughout this, wanted to be investigated and ultimately voted to certify the election results but you see the sort of trajectory and frankly, how willing they were to buy into what donald trump was saying initially that there was this wide spread fraud which of course, there wasn't. >> sarah murray, thank you so much for the reporting

meanwhile take one more look at our attempt to hear from mike lee. it's clear he could have defended himself. senator lee, these texts show you worked hard to try to overturn the presidential election. are you still okay with that and how come you won't talk about it, sir? but he's chosen not to. >> certainly didn't say anything to you, but was there any kind of reaction from him? i don't know, did he react in any way? >> no reaction from his face whatsoever. you know, anderson, i talk very loudly at times particularly during that attempted interview, and there were people standing around us who were part of the event who were startled when they heard my voice booming out towards him, but senator lee he looked like he didn't hear me, looked like he didn't see me although i know he did, and it was clear his modus operandi for today was not to take any questions from reporters. >> it's so interesting the juxtaposition for him and senator romney clearly happen to talk to and comfortable with his position. gary, appreciate it. thank you. back to the war

take mike lee, someone who i used to have a lot of respect for. turns out, revelation showing last week, this guy was acting in many ways like a secret coup plotter. that's why, to pick up on jackie's point we need a full accounting. we need, right now, the republican party stands for three things. pro life pro guns and pro trump trying to steal the 2020 election. and we need a full accounting. and that's why the january six committee's work is so important. why discussions like the one we're having tonight is so important. and i think the january six committee needs to go further. members of congress look implicated in this. and i want their testimony. and it's true that the committee voluntarily asked mccarthy for his testimony. he said no, along with other members of congress. and the story tonight underscores why subpoenas have to be made to the members of congress. now it's absolutely fine -- >> who would be at the top of your list, neal? >> mccarthy. i mean, i would start with him. go sir, the others who've been implicated. but i think they

mike lee under fire for how he secretly texted the white house to help trump's basically coup plot and lied about it. he's literally refusing to answer questions even from utah reporters. >> senator lee, why did you lie about your involvement in the trump white house? senator, lee, why won't you answer questions about this? senator lee, why were you trying to -- >> he only has so much time to discuss delegates. >> senator? >> to talk with delegates. >> that's the salt lake tribune in his home state constituents want to know the facts. if there are good reasons mike lee was texting the white house about trying to over throw the election and saying he was shocked by the idea of such a plan, tell the people that vote for you in your state. we'll see if he ever speaks out and we will be right back. ever and we will be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we believe there's an innovator in all of us. ♪ ♪ that's why we build technology that makes it possible for every business... and every person... to come to the table and do more incredible things. why do dermatologists choose dove? the dove be

. >> reporter: senator mike lee of utah and congressman chip roy of texas. two of form he president trump's most loyal defenders in congress. but putting dozens of private texts, a picture emerges of how both went from aiding the effort to challenge the election results, to ultimately warning against it. the texts obtained by cnn show how they were trying to help initially, but by the end, raised concerns to trump's top deputy about his campaign's effort to stand in the way of the certification of the 2020 election. we're driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic, roy warned meadows in a text message on january 1st that is in possession of the january 6 select committee. after weeks of begging meadows for hard evidence of election fraud and concerned that the lack of evidence was a real problem for the trump legal team. we must urge the president to tone down the rhetoric, he wrote to meadows on november 9th. roy did believe there were problems with the election. in early december he went to the house floor imploring his colleagues to look into th

senator mike lee previously denied participating in any such scheme. he said he was shocked, shocked, when he heard about it. thought it was crazy. he was promoting it aggressively to the white house and he himself was personally trying to help pull it off by personally contacting officials in multiple states that had been won by biden to see if there was any way to get their votes counted as if they had been cast for trump instead. we have learned as well hot on the heels of those revelations that the white house chief of staff, mark meadows, was advised directly by the white house counsel's office, that scheme was illegal. that scheme involving states won by biden, nevertheless trying to have their votes counted for trump, he was told in no uncertain terms that was illegal. he was reportedly told that multiple times by the white house counsel's office and informed by the white house counsel's office that such a scheme was illegal, he pursued it any way. and we have since learned he wasn't alone. mark meadow's aide, cassidy hutchinson testified to the

mike lee had previously denied participating in such a scheme, he said he was shocked, shocked when he heard about it, thought it was crazy. we now know he was a promoting it aggressively to the white house, and he was trying to pull it off. he was personally contacting officials in multiple states that had been won by biden, to see if there is any way to get their votes counted as if they had been cast for trump instead. we have learned, as well, hot on the heels of those revelations, to the white house chief of staff mark meadows, was advised directly by the white house counsel's office, but that scheme was illegal. that scheme involving states one by biden, nevertheless having their votes counted for trump? he was told in no uncertain terms, that that was illegal. he was reportedly told that multiple times by the white house counsel's office, and even though he was informed by the white house counsel's office said that that such a scheme was illegal, he pursued it anyway. we have since learned he wasn't alone mark meadows's aide cassidy hutchison has testified to the january six inv

. >> then senator mike lee. what concerns did he express in the text messages? >> reporter: like congressman roy, mike lee was initially very supportive and reached out to meadows with a message of support for the former president saying, look, we -- you need to keep fighting mr. president, stay strong. encouraging the former president to fight and challenge the outcome knowing on that day the election had been called for joe biden. lee in a similar fashion to congressman roy his concerns would grow over time. we see by november 19th. after he had already been pushing and advocating for various attorneys pushing conspiracy theories about the election and spreading unfounded claims, he reached out about one in particular, sidney powell, he said i'm worried about the powell press conferencing, referring to about the press conference where powell and others stood up and aired conspiracy theories about the election. and in the days that followed senator lee seems at a loss. he texts two days later, please tell me what i should be saying. and then by the end of decem

mike lee, that is quite a title. >> it is. it's quite a book. it's going to be big. >> in the meantime this is playing out in real-time, what happens with the supreme court. junction jackson, the committee voted today, something that senator leahy who one timed jerrod this committee, said something that you should think about when you get ready to vote . >> the history books will be taking notes. people read this history for generations to come. annually question we have is whether we will rise to meet this moment in history. >> it feels like they could be interpreted to mean if you vote against or you were on the wron side of history. how did you take that comment? >> i think that is what he suggested. anytime you are trying to say i you disagree with me you were i the wrong side of history, you better be ready to back that up. there were a number of us who have concerns with this nominate , concerns based on judicial philosophy and her lac of willingness to tell us what hurt traditional philosophy has been for me ask about, very often we are t

cnn got a look at 100 messages between him and mike lee and chip roy and shows them encouraging the white house to overturn the 2020 election but it comes on the heels of texts from donald trump, jr., to mark meadows laying out his ideas to keep his father in tower and texts from ginni thomas imploring meadows to do the same. joining me is msnbc legal analyst joyce advance and molly jhong fast of "the atlantic" two of my favorite people especially to start my day. joyce, first off, i have to ask the question i raised at the top of the hour, how big of a deal are these text messages and are they going to help build a case against donald trump? >> so i think those are two separate questions, which is why you pose the question that way, katie. the first part of that question, what can we take away from the texts? the most shocking thing about them is that we see senator lee affirmatively advocating participation in what we can only characterize at this point as an attempted coup. as we get closer to january ofth, we see him doing something we don't see directly from others. we see him acknow