![Meadows contempt vote shows growing power of January 6 committee](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/211214202743-mark-meadows-file-super-tease.jpg)
Meadows contempt vote shows growing power of January 6 committee
CNN
The House of Representatives staked out a dramatic new defense of democracy by citing Mark Meadows for criminal contempt over his refusal to testify about Donald Trump's coup attempt on January 6.
The move against the former White House chief of staff Tuesday was the latest effort to penetrate the inner circle of an ex-President who watched the US Capitol come under attack by a mob incited by his plot to overturn a fair election. But it also showed how the House select committee investigating the assault is now taking on a far more important role than simply documenting a day that will live in infamy. It has become a vital protagonist in the battle to save American democracy in the run-up to a presidential election in which Trump may try to reclaim power, through nefarious means if necessary.
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Amid Democrats’ shock and bickering over how much to respond to President Donald Trump is a deeper question rippling through leaders across the Capitol and across the country: How much should they rely on the same institutional and procedural maneuvers they used during the first Trump term, and how much are they willing to wield their own wrecking balls?
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In less than a month in office the Trump administration has simultaneously dismantled foreign aid programs that support fragile democracies abroad and put on leave federal workers who protect US elections at home in a move that current and former officials say abandons decades of American commitments to democracy.
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Sen. Mitch McConnell was a generational force for the Republican Party — using procedural tactics and political will to stymie much of former President Barack Obama’s agenda, hand President Donald Trump key first-term political victories and deliver a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court majority. Now he’s the odd man out.