CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — On Tuesday, former Vice President Mike Pence was in Charlotte, and Queen City News asked him about the recently leaked messages between former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and GOP members of Congress.
Online publication Talking Points Memo published the messages Monday night after Meadows turned them over to the House Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection at the Captial.
According to TPM, the messages feature conversations between Meadows and 34 different GOP members of Congress, some of which are from our area.
The messages were all sent around the time of January 6, some before and some after. TPM reviewed the text logs, which show North Carolina representatives Ted Budd, Greg Murphy, Richard Hudson, and Dan Bishop communicating with Meadows.
Budd, the incoming N.C. senator, texted him about the Dominion Voting Machines and its link to billionaire George Soros. Murphy texted him about another version of the state legislature strategy, emphasizing the importance of Republican legislatures moving to appoint pro-Trump electors. Bishop texted Meadows about his objection to the election results.
S.C. congressman Ralph Norman (R-Rock Hill) encouraged Meadows to talk to Trump about invoking martial law. On Tuesday, Norman sent out a statement addressing the text, saying:
“Obviously, martial law was never warranted. That text came from a source of frustration, on the heels of countless unanswered questions about the integrity of the 2020 election, without any way to slow down and examine those issues prior to the inauguration of the newly elected president.”
QCN asked Pence for his response to the leaked text messages from his former GOP colleagues.
“I have not reviewed those reports,” Pence said. “But I will say January 6th was a tragic day. But thanks to the courage of law enforcement at the Capitol, and federal law enforcement, the violence was quelled. And we were able to reconvene the Congress on the very same day, and I’ll always believe in my heart of hearts that we did our duty under the constitution of the United States and the laws of this country.”
QCN reached out to all North Carolina representatives listed in Meadows’ text logs but did not hear back from any of them.
In a press release on Tuesday, the York County Democratic Party called for congressman Norman’s immediate resignation in response to these messages surfacing.
