Arizona and Georgia government officials, who were pressured by Donald Trump to help undo the loss of his 2020 election, will head the fourth hearing of an elected House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 uprising on Tuesday afternoon. of the commission.
Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican, is expected to speak for the first time about being harassed and intimidated by Trump’s allies, commission officials said. A trio of Georgian election workers, where Trump is under criminal investigation for his efforts to change Georgia’s results, will also testify.
“We will take a closer look at how the president and his allies devised these schemes to pressure Republican-controlled legislators and other government officials to revoke certification of his election loss or deny certification in some contested states,” the commission said Monday.
House of Representatives Commission investigating the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, including (l to r) Pete Aguilar (D-California), President Benny Thompson (D-Miss.), Liz Cheney (R-Wy) ) and Adam Kinsinger (R-Ill), held his third hearing on June 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Washington Post via Getty Images)
Tuesday’s hearing will mark the fourth in a series of hearings on the violent attack on the US Capitol, spurred on by Trump’s extensive campaign to deny losing his election in 2020 and trying to stay in power. Thursday’s hearing is expected to focus on Trump’s efforts to put pressure on the Justice Department to help him try to stay in power illegally, commission officials said Monday.
Trump, for his part, called for “equal time”, complaining that he did not have any of his supporters on the committee. Asked if the group was trying to obtain testimony from Trump, a commission official said he would “welcome” the testimony of anyone involved. Two Trump spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment.
Over the weekend, committee member Adam Schiff, D-California, said the committee could be opened to call on former Vice President Mike Pence to testify before the committee. A commission official declined to say Monday whether they would make Pence testify.
A number of commentators have called on Pence to testify after the last hearing, which focused on Trump’s intense pressure on Pence and the ensuing January 6 riot that threatened Pence’s life.
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Former US President Donald Trump addressed the Coalition for Faith and Freedom during their annual “Majority Policy Conference” at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center on June 17, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Seth Herald / Getty Images)
The commission also expressed new interest in Ginny Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, after the Washington Post reported that she tried to lobby 29 Arizona lawmakers to approve fake voters in an attempt to keep Trump in power. The commission later uncovered evidence that Ginny Thomas was in contact with John Eastman, the lawyer at the center of Trump’s latest attempts to cancel the election, according to The Post.
The commission’s leaders, Benny Thompson, D-Miss., And Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Sent a request to Ginny Thomas last week, asking her to testify before the commission sometime between July 6 and July 11. Thomas told the Daily Caller last week: “I look forward to talking to them.”
Schiff, who has long been a central player in Trump’s investigations, is due to lead Tuesday’s hearing.
In addition to Bowers, Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger, who recently defeated a Trump-backed contender, and Gabriel Stirling, one of his top aides, are ready to testify to Trump’s relentless pressure on them to “find” the votes. that he needs. won Georgia.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger is holding a press conference on the state of the ballot count on November 6, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Jessica McGowan / Getty Images)
In a conversation that is now at the center of an investigation by Fulton County Attorney Fanny Willis, Trump asked Rafensperger to cast 11,780 votes for him.
Georgia’s election official Wandrea “Cheye” Moss, who was targeted by Trump supporters with death threats and repeated harassment, is also due to testify on Tuesday.
The fourth hearing is also expected to focus on the tactics of Trump and his allies trying to send fake voters to Washington to wreak havoc and give Pence a reason not to prove Biden’s victory.
Retired Federal Judge J. Michael Lutig testified at last week’s third hearing that the use of fake voters was a key tactic in the effort to overturn the election result and would likely be used again if Trump or his “anointed successor” ran in 2024 and lost.
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