GOP senator who just endorsed Trump once called Jan. 6 'dangerous' for 'the republic'

During a recent interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) gave a glowing endorsement of former President Donald Trump. This comes despite Lee warning in private text messages in the days leading up to the January 6, 2021 insurrection that Trump's attempt to overturn election results was "dangerous."

Lee doubled down on his support in a Friday post to X (formerly Twitter), tweeting "like Trump or not, Americans face a binary choice... I'll take the mean tweets. I choose Trump."

This prompted Politico legal reporter Kyle Cheney to remind his followers of text messages Sen. Lee sent to Trump's attorneys in the week prior to January 6, in which he cautioned against the lame duck president's attempts to cling to power.

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The text thread Cheney tweeted was between Lee and Cleta Mitchell, who helped lead Trump's unsuccessful efforts to overturn the election in Georgia.

"Is there a way the Senate can conduct a hearing to allow me to present our election contest in GA?" Mitchell texted. "We need a day in the court of public opinion... I talked with [White House Chief of Staff] Mark Meadows this am. Need Lindsey [Graham] to convene Judiciary. And invite all other Senators to attend. This matters. We need to present and make a record."

"Indeed we do," Lee responded. "January 6th is, however, a dangerous idea. Not just for the republic itself, but also for the president."

"Honestly, I think I could pull this off if I could pitch it as a way to avoid the January 6th plan," Lee continued. "Tell me if you think I'm wrong on this, but I don't think we have any valid basis for objecting to the electors... Am I wrong on that front? I would love to be proven wrong."

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In addition to Lee's texts to Mitchell the week before the 6th, Cheney also posted a text message the Utah senator sent to then-National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien on the day of the insurrection. In that exchange, he urged O'Brien to not resign and attached a voicemail Giuliani left, who mistakenly thought he was calling Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama).

"You've got to listen to that message. Rudy is walking malpractice," Lee texted. "Please, Robert. Please remain in your current post until noon on January 20th. We need you there. Now more than ever."

Notably, Lee was not one of the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn election results on January 6th. While eight of his GOP colleagues voted against certifying Electoral College results, Lee refrained from doing so. He did, however, vote to acquit Trump during his second impeachment trial.