0 their accountant drops them isn't exactly misplaced. and guess who's out again on capitol hill? >> why is it that you keep being part of the transition team, helping advised district attorneys on how to release violent criminals, and you're the head of the innocence project. >> the sad return to the federal days of criminal justice backlash politics. but all in starts right now. good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. president joe biden is taking steps to answer one of the biggest lingering mysteries of the trump administration. who was donald trump talking to in the days leading up to the january 6th insurrection? today, president biden announced he would be waving executive privilege for the white house visitor logs from trump's presidency, clearing the way for the bipartisan committee investigating january six to get their hands on them. well trump likely -- again it's important because donald trump has a talent for surrounding self with the worst people. he'll often encourage authoritarian tendencies and it would be painted that insurrection, there was two groups of people in donald trump's orbit. those who despite whatever, we're adamantly opposed to trump's coup. and then the wackos who will courage or assisted in the plan of a fair and free election in american democracy as we know. and then there is a net a another category, category one, the former white house chief of staff mark meadows. that guy, we are not clear what groupie false. into -- but he also did not appear to be one of the true believers like rudy giuliani. one of the reasons why it would be so beneficial for meadows to speak to the committee investigating the attack. now we now know leading up to january six, meadows acted as a kind of intermediary clearinghouse, away station for that president. fielding messages from both pro and anti coup camps. hopefully aggregated by the washington post with the piece out today, easily leading up to january six fox news, hannity when it comes closest to the outside advisers was adamant that the plot was destined to fail. first texting meadows on 31st, we cannot lose the entire white house counsel's office. i do not see january six happening the way that it's being. told after the six. he should announce that he will lead nationwide effort to reform voting integrity. again, on january 5th -- i'm very worried about the next 40 hour pence pressure. white house counsel. leave it seems like shaw knows a lot about what's going on, can you share with the rest of us? at least one republican member would be far white house also appear to have issued -- this is pretty interesting. texting meadows if -- the president allows this to occur. we're driving a stake in the heart of the federal public. strong words. the voices against the coup seemed to get drowned out by those. we backing of them are 20 before the election not even been called a phone number linked to former texas governor and trump secretary rick perry texted meadows quote, here is an aggressive strategy. why can't the states of georgia, north carolina, pennsylvania and other -- can declare this is bs and just send their own electors to vote and have it go to court. that is aggressive. that's an aggressive wear to kill american democracy. you should know rick perry denies sending that text message. the january six committee staff said that it came by an unidentified number of perry's. you decide who's telling the truth. we also know that meadows received a previous reveal text by congressman jim jordan of ohio, who copy-pasted elon instructing mike pence to overturn the results of the election. the washington post is also saying that mark meadows from coup plotters, an attorney well push trump's big lie. and who is now on that infamous phone call when trump tried to bully georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger into finding the votes needed to flip the state. >> you have all these different people that voted but they don't live -- anymore what was that number it was a pretty good number [inaudible] to >> the register that registered out of state, they said that they had a date moved from georgia, they register to vote out of, state and then it's like 4500. i don't have that -- >> and then they went back in and they voted? >> 4500 people that are in georgia voters that did not vote, that's fraud. mitchell was not the only bad actor with a direct line of access to the white house. the post also reports that they're not quite sure how described the right-wing troublemaker james o'keefe, a guy that does all the deceptively edited gotcha statements that don't amount to anything. he was texting mark meadows, that guy. leading up to the -- thousands registered to vote at two church address as atlanta. these admissions were obtained today. james. >> [laughs] you got james o'keefe on the case. you should know it again there wasn't any evidence. all this stuff is nonsense, it's all nonsense. all of it. garbage in an garbage. out and o'keefe is someone that should be nowhere close -- and yet it seems that absolutely everybody -- mark meadows. trump continued on the sixth when everyone from fox news host hannity, laura ingraham, unidentified members of congress. beating down the doors to the presidents own song, donald junior, desperately trying to get the president to call off the violent riot he incited. but at least when it came to the president himself, again, pro coup versus one. those messages made it to trump and he ignored them because he was too busy watching the violent and deadly riot on tv. reportedly gleefully reminding the mob -- threatened to hang mike pence. insulting police officers with buying pose, bear spray -- and all this speaks to the incredible use of trump, who surrounds himself with the worst people. congresswoman elaine luria, as a democratic representative, she sits on the bipartisan committee investigating january 6th. she joins me now. let's start with the former president -- will and the significance and importance of that? >> well, again, this is a great step forward for the committee. it's been very helpful with what we received with the hot archives and when we don't have access the video logs as i've mentioned. but in the presence -- the need of the committee to have this information within 15 days we can have these long. that's very important for us to understand who is there with the president when access to the white house. he was meeting with a handful of people, surrounding january six so it really is a good step forward for the committee. i'm hopeful that will receive that in a 15-day timeframe. >> you said something about the washington post, i'll have you elaborate on these attacks that meadows received, because they tie things together. ease out the facts and learn more about personal relationships instead of -- how familiar people are with each other and how they interact in realtime. it seems like the comedic learned quite a bit. ms like the come certainly, you know, you've mentioned a few texts, the request for interviews, and subpoenas we have and chew to a few people. these are just a few of thousands of texts, it's fascinating to be able to review these documents. first of all, who had access to the cell phone number for the chief of staff for the united states? and then to look at you know who were these people who were texting with the frequency? what did he respond to? i think that's key to say these are things he thought he was important. these are things he did not think we're important. you have media personalities, you have current and former members of congress. you have a whole host of people that were familiar with this plot and scenario. who are just bombarding the former chief of staff with disinformation. and teasing that out and understanding who were the players and? this it's just -- it's really fascinating. you can see personal connections, you can see relationships who is asking for favors. it really does provide an insight on -- in how the trump white house was functioning. and who had access to the people closest to the president. it's incredibly useful for the committee to have this information. >> i wonder if you could clarify something for me, you may not be able to. but the washington post piece cited this one text from a freedom caucus member, which you know, sort of ultra conservative wing of the republican party and the house. saying if: if potus allows this to occur, and this is before january 6th, the first or second when they get the plan. we are driving a stake in the heart of the federal public. -- meaning allowing joe biden to be certified at the president? or allows this plot to occur in which mike pence overturn the election? i mean, that member was pro coup or anti coup? >> so the way i read the text and the way i understand it, if we allow this to occur, i.e. if we allow the vice president to follow this plot, you know these false electors, and say that he could change the outcome of the election. so that's the context in which i understand that text. >> i mean there's something about that language, driving the stake in the federal republic. that's the thing, you know language that's close to what i use in this program. it's an accurate discussion -- and here you have apparently a very conservative republican recognizing in realtime precisely what they were saying in front of their faces. as evidence and many of the other texts of peoples whose politics i hate. [laughs] and have nothing in common with who were at the very least understood that what was being contemplated was essentially an existential threat to american democracy. >> yes i think that's true, i think very few of those people who understand that threat have stood up and come forward. i applaud my colleagues, liz cheney, i'm adam kinzinger, those who understood that, and voted in favor of the impeachment of donald trump. but i think that there are many more who could provide a voice and information to the committee, that would be important in understanding what the different camps thought and felt and influence that they were trying to plant in the former president as we approach january 6th and the events on that day unfolded. >> we expect there will be some lawsuit and some legal wrangling of the white house. these are logs i expect, and the courts have ruled, in an expedited fashion, that committee will get access to. where are you in the arc of this investigation? >> well we received a lot of information from the archivists, we still have additional information that the archivist is compiling and providing to the committee. or preparing to provide to the committee. and information coming in on a regular basis. so it is key to the investigation that we are carrying out, these visitor logs are very important. i have said before 187 minutes, over three hours, that the president observe watching tv, what's going on. and he did not take action, he did not stand up, he did not make a public statement, he did not say stop the violence and go home. it's very important to us to understand, who was there in the white house? who might have been having conversations with? him all the time to her talking about leading up to january. sixth >> all right congresswoman thank you for your. time >> thank. you >> after he was formally and publicly dumped by his accountant this week, donald trump did the only thing he knows how to do, firing off a classic statement full of wild killings and inflammatory language. and very long. the only problem, it's looks like his response to being dumped made have made things worse. next, what we know now about those financial documents and why the attorney general may have called -- might have caught trump in a lie, after this. in a lie, after this. remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information.