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‘He Can’t Mention the Election Again’: Text Messages Reveal Sean Hannity’s Frantic Efforts to Rein in Trump

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Fox News host Sean Hannity repeatedly tried to rein in former president Donald Trump in text messages to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in the days before and after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

In a letter requesting Hannity’s testimony on Tuesday, the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection revealed several of the Fox News host’s text messages to Meadows and others.

“We can’t lose the entire WH counsel’s office,” Hannity wrote to Meadows on Dec. 31, apparently referring to White House lawyers’ threats to quit over Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.

“I do not see January 6 happening the way he is being told,” Hannity wrote of Trump, before effectively encouraging the former president to accept defeat.

Hannity wrote that after the certification of electoral college votes on Jan. 6, Trump “should announce (he) will lead the nationwide effort to reform voting integrity.”

“Go to Fl (Florida) and watch Joe (Biden) mess up daily. Stay engaged. When he speaks people will listen,” Hannity wrote.

On Jan. 5, Hannity wrote to Meadows that he was “very worried about the next 48 hours.”

READ MORE: New Hannity texts revealed — including one where he admits being ‘very worried’ one day before Jan. 6: CNN

Apparently referring to efforts by Trump and his allies to pressure Vice President Mike Pence into blocking certification of Biden’s victory, Hannity warned, “Pence Pressure. … WH counsel will leave.”

Following the insurrection, Hannity appeared to be struggling to convince Trump to accept his defeat.

“Guys, we have a clear path to land the plane in 9 days,” Hannity wrote in a message to Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Jan. 10. “He can’t mention the election again. Ever. 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?”

According to Politico, Hannity’s text messages are “the latest indication that some of the former president’s closest allies grew increasingly alarmed by his actions in the aftermath of his defeat, despite not saying so publicly.”

“Hannity was one of Trump’s staunchest media allies throughout his candidacy and presidency and he has often relied on Hannity for his counsel and conservative media megaphone,” the site noted.

The committee previously released a text message from Hannity to Meadows on the day of the insurrection, calling on Trump to “ask people to peacefully leave the [C]apit[o]l.”

“Hannity was not the only Fox News host urging Meadows to get Trump to take action,” CNN reports. “According to documents on file, the committee has a message from Laura Ingraham to Meadows saying, ‘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’ Brian Kilmeade texted Meadows stating, “‘Please get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished.'”

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Jim Jordan Busted for Helping Trump ‘Tamper’ With Probe: ‘Beyond All Bounds of What’s Legal’

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Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg rebuffed a Republican House demand for a peek inside an investigation involving Donald Trump as “unlawful,” and MSNBC’s Al Sharpton agreed it amounted to “tampering.”

Bragg’s general counsel denied a request for documents and an interview with the district attorney by Judiciary, Oversight and Administration Committee chairs Jim Jordan (R-OH), James Comer (R-KY) and Bryan Steil (R-WI), calling the congressional inquiry an “unprecedented” intervention into a pending local prosecution undertaken at Trump’s request.

“Any man that is up in the middle of the night, that is going with this kind of language, is scared to death,” Sharpton said of Trump, who has been posting highly provocative online attacks against Bragg. “The problem, though, is that he is inciting people, no matter how small they have become as a crowd, to do something. Add that to him having the photo of the bat at a sitting prosecutor, I mean, it’s unimaginable. You’re right, we’d be arrested for that.”

“We have chairmen of committees telling a prosecutor, who is in the middle of an investigation, to come and give us the evidence,” Sharpton added. “I mean, they’re really tampering with an investigation. This is not an investigation that’s concluded. Before we know whether there is an indictment or charge, they’re saying bring us the evidence? I mean, this is unheard of. What is Jordan talking about? They’re in the middle of a grand jury proceeding. You want the prosecutor to leave the proceeding and tell me the evidence you’re giving, and we’ll put it on national television so the target can understand the evidence? I mean, we are going beyond all bounds of what is legal, what is respectful, and we have a man who is scared to death, that is up in the middle of the night inciting violence, having a photo with a bat, because he’s scared to death he’s going to have to face this prosecution.”

READ MORE: Trump is ‘out of his mind scared’ after late-night outburst : Morning Joe panel

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Lindsey Graham Admonished by Senate Ethics Committee

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U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been formally admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee for violating ethics rules and standards by repeatedly soliciting campaign donations during an interview at the Capitol.

The bipartisan committee issued Graham a Public Letter of Admonition after the South Carolina Republican solicited donations for Georgia GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker.

“Based upon all available information, the Committee concluded that on November 30, 2022, you conducted a media interview with Fox News in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building and that your interview was slightly over nine minutes, with over four minutes devoted to a discussion of the 2022 senatorial run-off election in Georgia. The Committee further concluded that during your discussion of the senatorial run-off election, you directly solicited campaign contributions on behalf of Mr. Walker’s campaign committee, www.teamherschel.com, five separate times.”

The letter notes that Sen. Graham had previously violated the same standards when he solicited campaign donations in a federal building in October of 2020, but said it was an “unplanned media interview.” When a reporter had asked him about fundraising, Graham “directly solicited campaign contributions” for his re-election campaign.

READ MORE: Watch: GOP Lawmaker Orders Grieving Parkland Parents Removed From ‘ATF Overreach’ Hearing

The Committee noted “mitigating” circumstances and did not cite him for that violation.

“The public must feel confident that Members use public resources only for official actions in the best interests of the United States, not for partisan political activity,” the letter concludes. “Your actions failed to uphold that standard, resulting in harm to the public trust and confidence in the United States Senate. You are hereby admonished.”

CNN’s Manu Raju posted the letter to social media.

You can read the letter below or at this link.

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‘Repercussions’: Biden White House Warns Uganda ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill Could Force US to Cancel $950 Million in Annual Aid

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The Biden administration may cancel the $950 million in annual assistance the U.S. provides to Uganda if President Yoweri Museveni signs into law its latest “Kill the Gays” bill, which calls for the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and between ten and 20 years in prison for other LGBTQ “acts.”

National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby on Wednesday made clear if Uganda further criminalizes homosexuality and the LGBTQ community there could be “repercussions that we would have to take.”

“That would be really unfortunate because so much of the economic assistance that we provide Uganda is health assistance,” Admiral Kirby said at a White House press briefing.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also told reporters Wednesday the Biden administration has “grave concerns” over the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), and “increasing violence targeting LGBTQIA+ persons.”

READ MORE: Florida GOP Lawmaker Who Wrote ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Facing Up to 35 Years After Pleading Guilty in COVID Fraud Case

“If the AHA is signed into law and enacted, it would impinge upon universal human rights, jeopardize progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, deter tourism and invest in Uganda and damage Uganda’s international reputation,” Jean-Pierre warned. “The bill is one of the most extreme anti-LGBTQI+ laws in the world.”

Kirby and Jean-Pierre’s remarks came on the same day as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” legislation, saying it “would undermine fundamental human rights of all Ugandans and could reverse gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”

“The United States provides more than $950 million in aid to Uganda each year, according to the State Department. The money supports development and health care measures, such as combating HIV/AIDS,” Courthouse News reported Wednesday. “Uganda is already among 30 African countries that ban same-sex relations. The new proposal would broaden penalties and appears to be the first to outlaw identifying as LGBTQ+, according to Human Rights Watch.”

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