Texts sent from high-ranking Republican lawmakers between the 2020 election and the attack on the U.S. Capital on Jan. 6 show the level of desperation some felt as misinformation about a nonexistent “rigged election” spiraled out of control. A series of texts from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) to Mark Meadows, who was White House chief of staff at that time, show how those who vowed to push forward Donald Trump’s lies about the election struggled for substance. The texts, first reported by CNN, were part of a cache of documents obtained by the House Jan. 6 investigators. Among them are a slew of missives sent to Meadows. In one, written on Nov. 7, Lee offered to Meadows “unequivocal support for you to exhaust every legal and constitutional remedy at your disposal to restore Americans faith in our elections.” But he later wrote a more desperate plea. “Just give me something to work with,” Lee wrote. “Please tell me what I should be saying.”

On the same day, Roy went a step further about just what they needed to prove the unprovable lie. “We need ammo. We need fraud examples. We need it this weekend,” he wrote. On Jan. 1, Roy wrote, “We’re driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic.” The extent of Roy’s support had not been previously known, according to CNN.