Throughout the logs, Hannity both gives advice and asks for direction, blurring the lines between his Fox show, his radio show and the Trump White House.
On the afternoon of Election Day, Hannity texted Meadows at 1:36 p.m. to ask about turnout in North Carolina. Two hours later, Meadows responded: “Stress every vote matters. Get out and vote. On radio.”
“Yes sir,” Hannity replied. “On it. Any place in particular we need a push.”
“Pennsylvania. NC AZ,” Meadows wrote, adding: “Nevada.”
“Got it. Everywhere,” Hannity said.
The texts also show the two men debating Trump’s strategy to challenge the election, complaining about Fox, and plotting about what to do after Trump left office — including possibly working together.
“You also need to spend at least half your time doing business with us,” Hannity texted Meadows on December 12. “And I’m serious. Did u ever talk to Fox. I’ve been at war with them.”
“I agree. We can make a powerful team,” Meadows responded. “I did not talk with (Fox News CEO) Suzanne (Scott) because I got tied up with pardons but I will make sure I connect. You are a true patriot and I am so very proud of you! Your friendship means a great deal to me.”
“Feeling is mutual,” Hannity wrote back.
Hannity did not respond to requests for comment from CNN; neither did Meadows or his attorney. A spokesman for the January 6 committee declined to comment.
Feeding the fraud conspiracies
Meadows responded, “You’re exactly right. Working on breakthrough.”
“Ok. Would be phenomenal,” Hannity texted back.
Hannity checked in with Meadows on December 22, asking him how he was doing.
“Fighting like crazy. Went to Cobb county to review process. Very tough days but I will keep fighting,” Meadows said, referring to the Trump team’s objections to votes from Cobb County, Georgia.
While Hannity never appeared to dispute Trump’s false claims about the election itself, he expressed alarm at the tactics of some of those pushing Trump’s case. Hannity responded to Meadows, “You fighting is fine. The fing lunatics is NOT fine. They are NOT helping him. I’m fed up with those people.”
By New Year’s Eve, Hannity warned about the fallout if top White House lawyers resigned in protest. Hannity also appeared to accept the fact that the election was over and the President’s best course of action was to go to Florida and engage Biden from there.
“We can’t lose the entire WH counsels office. I do NOT see January 6 happening the way he is being told,” Hannity said. “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.”
Prepping for a Trump interview
After the letter was sent, Hannity’s attorney, Jay Sekulow, told CNN, “We are reviewing the committee’s letter and will respond as appropriate.”
While Hannity was fiercely loyal to Trump on-air, his off-air relationship was more complicated. He sometimes complained about Trump’s conduct and fretted that the President was hurting the Republican Party writ large.
A spokesperson for Fox did not respond to a request for comment.
“Hi the public wants to know he will fight this. They want to hear a path to victory. & he’s in control,” Bartiromo texted at 9:21 a.m. “1Q You’ve said MANY TIMES THIS ELECTION IS RIGGED… And the facts are on your side. Let’s start there. What are the facts? Characterize what took place here. Then I will drill down on the fraud including the statistical impossibilities of Biden magic (federalist). Pls make sure he doesn’t go off on tangents. We want to know he is strong he is a fighter & he will win. This is no longer about him. This is about ????. I will ask him about big tech & media influencing ejection as well Toward end I’ll get to GA runoffs & then vaccines.”
At 10:12 a.m., Trump called into Bartiromo’s show, “Sunday Morning Futures.” Her line of questions mirrored much of what she laid out in the text message.
The committee previously released texts from both Kilmeade and Ingraham expressing alarm over the attacks at the Capitol and its effect on Trump’s legacy. Tucker Carlson appears in only one exchange in the Meadows text logs, when he was trying to speak to Meadows while prepping for his show on November 17.
“Sorry I missed you. I was writing the show. Figured it out I think, but I appreciate it,” Carlson wrote.
The logs also show there were dozens of journalists from other organizations who texted with Meadows during this time period. In contrast to Hannity’s messages, these reporters were frequently seeking the White House chief of staff’s confirmation of breaking news or trying to secure an interview with Trump.
Meadows received texts from reporters with the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Politico, Bloomberg, NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN, among others.
‘I’m beginning to feel down’
As the returns were coming in on Election Night, Hannity pinged Meadows to share a tweet about early vote totals out of North Carolina, a state that was crucial to Trump’s reelection hopes. “Will we hold??” Hannity asked Meadows.
“We are still good,” Meadows wrote back.
A week later, Hannity checked in again to see how Meadows was “holding up.”
“I am doing well. Working around the clock. We are going to fight and win,” Meadows said.
“You really think it’s possible,” Hannity responded. “I’m beginning to feel down. To (sic) much disorganization. We need Jim to front the messaging. Someone that’s credible.”
“Arizona now down just 12813. Still ballots to count,” Meadows wrote back. “Very disorganized but I have been busting heads yesterday and today. Let NOT your heart be troubled my friend.”
Hannity and Meadows’ texts underscore the insular effects of the right-wing media echo chamber, where little if any accurate information about the election results was able to break through.
In November and early December, Hannity’s show often amplified Trump’s election lies. Guests including then-White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany made near-nightly appearances to sow doubt about the election results and stoke support for doomed legal challenges. “We will follow the facts,” Hannity claimed on his December 2 program, one day after Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, declared there was no evidence of widespread election fraud.
But in his texts with Meadows, Hannity sounded resigned to the fact that the election was over.
“Texas case is very strong. Still a Herculean climb. Everyone knows it was stolen. Everyone,” Hannity wrote on December 8. “I vacillate between mad as hell and sad as hell. Wtf happened to our country Mark.”
Meadows responded, “So upset to see what we allowed to happen.”
“Honestly we think alike. That’s another discussion,” Hannity wrote back.
‘I’ve been at war with them all week’
The text messages also shed light on Hannity’s tensions with Fox. The Trump-aligned channel infuriated the former President by calling Arizona for Biden on Election Night.
“Doing this to try and get ratings will not work in the long run and I am doubtful it is even a short term winning strategy,” Meadows wrote.
Hannity responded with a jab at Fox and a suggestion about what Meadows should do after leaving the White House: “I’ve been at war with them all week. We will talk wen I see u,” Hannity wrote. “Also if this doesn’t end the way we want, you me and Jay are doing 3 things together. 1- Directing legal strategies vs Biden 2- NC Real estate 3- Other business I talked to Rudy. Thx for helping him.”
Hannity expressed his frustrations again several days later, telling Meadows that he had made a campaign ad.
“I was screaming about no ads from Labor Day on,” Hannity…
Read More:CNN Exclusive: New text messages reveal Fox’s Hannity advising Trump White House and seeking direction
2022-04-29 20:47:00