In the fourth televised hearing of the January 6th Committee, we heard live testimony from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, both of whom were personally contacted by Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Witnesses revealed how Trump and his MAGA allies pressured state-level Republican officials and poll workers across the country to overturn the will of the people. We also heard from Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia election worker who told the Committee about the harassment she and her mother received thanks to Donald Trump spreading conspiracy theories about their involvement in a plot to steal the election from him. As The Hill reported “Moss Says Trump Conspiracies ‘Turned My Life Upside Down.’” The Select Committee continues to lay out the evidence proving that Trump and MAGA Republicans have never stopped working to be able to put themselves in power regardless of the outcome of an election.
Washington Post: Rusty Bowers Proves To Be The Jan. 6 Committee’s Most Compelling Witness Yet. “…The shocker on Tuesday was that Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Meadows were also directly involved in the efforts to overturn Arizona’s results as well. No doubt anticipating the damage this revelation would do to his case, Trump attacked Arizona House Speaker Russell “Rusty” Bowers (R) before Tuesday’s hearing, claiming that Bowers had previously told him that the election was “rigged.” Bowers, perhaps the most compelling and effective witness the committee has questioned to date, stated clearly that Trump’s claim was false. He had not made such a statement, Bowers said, and Trump’s claim that Bowers said Trump won the state was “also false.” [Washington Post Opinion, 6/21/22]
Associated Press: We Fought Trump Pressure, GOP State Officials Tell 1/6 Panel. “The House 1/6 committee outlined on Tuesday Donald Trump’s relentless pressure to overturn the 2020 presidential election, aiming to show it led to widespread personal threats on the stewards of American democracy — election workers and local officials who fended off the defeated president’s efforts. […] The public hearing, the fourth by the panel this month, stemmed from its yearlong investigation into Trump’s unprecedented attempt to remain in power, a sprawling scheme that the chairman of the Jan. 6 committee has likened to an “attempted coup.” [Associated Press, 6/21/22]
CNN: 5 Takeaways From The Fourth Day Of The January 6 Hearings. “The panel featured testimony from three Republican officials who were all on the receiving end of Trump’s outreach after the election: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, his deputy Gabe Sterling and Arizona House of Representatives Speaker Rusty Bowers…Here are key takeaways from Tuesday’s hearing: Republican witnesses tie Trump directly to fake electors effort. […] Committee reveals new details how congressional Republicans helped Trump’s efforts to overturn election. […] Witnesses describe how Trump’s lies had serious consequences — including threats. […] Republican officials take the lead testifying against Trump. […] Top Arizona Republican refutes Trump in real-time.” [CNN, 6/21/22]
Forbes: Jan. 6 Hearings: Wisconsin Sen. Johnson Tried To Give Pence Fake Slates Of Electors, Committee Says. “The January 6 committee presented evidence Tuesday they say shows Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson (R) wanted to “hand deliver” slates of fake electors to Vice President Mike Pence during the certification of the presidential election on January 6, 2021, as part of an effort endorsed by former President Donald Trump’s legal team to overturn the election results.” [Forbes, 6/21/22]
The Hill: Georgia Election Worker Shaye Freeman Moss Says Trump Conspiracies ‘Turned My Life Upside Down’. “Shaye Freeman Moss, a former Georgia election worker who was a target of a conspiracy theory spread by former President Trump and his allies, said Tuesday the allegations against her ‘turned my life upside down.’ Moss appeared before the Jan. 6 committee and fought back tears as she talked about how the harassment campaign against her upended her life in the weeks after the 2020 election. Rudy Giuliani, who served as an attorney for Trump in his bid to overturn the 2020 election results, claimed in an appearance before Georgia lawmakers that Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, were seen on camera passing a suspicious USB drive while counting election results in Fulton County, Ga. He insisted the two should have been questioned and had their homes searched for evidence.” [The Hill, 6/21/22]
New York Times: State Officials Recount Resisting Trump’s Pressure to Overturn Election. “Republican state officials testified about the pressure they faced from Donald J. Trump and his campaign to overturn election results, and on the threats of violence they faced from his followers. […] Rusty Bowers, the Republican speaker of Arizona’s House of Representatives, recounted how he resisted intensive pressure by Mr. Trump and his lieutenants to overturn his loss in the state. […] Mr. Trump and his allies didn’t care that election workers were facing death threats because of their false claims of fraud. Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming and the vice chairwoman of the committee, played video of Gabriel Sterling, a Georgia election official who also testified in person on Tuesday, warning about the threats election workers were facing.” [New York Times, 6/21/22]
Wall Street Journal: Jan. 6 Hearing: State Officials Recall Pressure From Trump, Allies on 2020 Election Result. “State legislators and election officials recalled how former President Donald Trump pressured them to try to alter the result of the 2020 presidential election, in testimony at Tuesday’s hearing of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the events leading up to it.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/21/22]
Washington Post: 3 Takeaways From The Fourth Jan. 6 Hearing. “1. Rusty Bowers’s compelling testimony: More evidence the Trump team knew its effort was illegal. […] 2. RNC chair links Trump to fake-elector plot. […] 3. Officials talks about intense pressure, protesters near families…it suggests Trump was clued in on this part of the effort early on. And since those fake electors might have been illegal even at that early juncture — and were ultimately used as part of the Jan. 6 plot — that matters.This all drove home that it wasn’t just Jan. 6, and it wasn’t just Sterling. Officials, including some Republicans, were under intense pressure at the time — the kind of pressure that could be compelling to those who weren’t dug in or didn’t have to abide by certain laws by virtue of their positions.” [Washington Post, 6/21/22]
In The States
AZCentral: Jan. 6 Committee Hearing Updates: Bowers Didn’t ‘Want To Be a Winner By Cheating.’ “Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers testified for about 40 minutes to the committee probing the Capitol riot. In addition to noting that former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani admitted lacking evidence of widespread election fraud, Bowers also said John Eastman, a lawyer working with Trump, couldn’t cite guiding law on challenging certified results. Instead, Eastman urged Bowers to “let the courts sort it out,” Bowers said. Bowers’ testimony largely followed what he told The Arizona Republic last year, but he may have made his biggest impression to the national audience watching when he discussed his faith, family and philosophy approaching the election results. Bowers, who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, noted that it is a tenet of his faith that the U.S. Constitution is divinely inspired, and, thus, not lightly disregarded.” [AZCentral, 6/21/22]
FOX 5 Atlanta: January 6 Hearing: Georgia Officials Testify About Trump’s 2020 Attacks On State’s Election System. “Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gabriel Sterling, Chief Operating Officer of the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, both provided testimony for the committee. Their comments centered around ballot tallying — and re-tallying — during the 2020 election in Georgia, when Joe Biden defeated former president Donald Trump by fewer than 12,000 votes. Raffensperger discussed a phone call with Trump in which he said, ‘All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.’ A former Fulton County elections worker, Shayne Moss, also described the threats she said she and her relatives received after video surfaced of her and her mother working at a poll site.” [Fox 5 Atlanta, 6/21/22]
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Jan. 6 Panel Focuses On Trump’s Relentless Pressure To Overturn Election. “Tuesday’s focus reviewed how Trump was repeatedly told his pressure campaign could potentially cause violence against the local officials and their families but pursued it anyway, according to a committee aide. And it underscored that fallout from Trump’s lies continues, with election officers facing ongoing public harassment and political challengers trying to take over their jobs.” [Las Vegas Review-Journal, 6/21/22]
Pennsylvania Capital Star: U.S. House Committee Examines Efforts To Pressure Gop State Officials — Including In PA — To Overturn 2020 Election. “Pennsylvania’s highest-ranking House Republican received daily calls from then-President Donald Trump’s campaign, seeking his support in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In a Tuesday hearing, the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol showed testimony from House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, and played voicemails left by Trump lawyers who pushed unsubstantiated claims of a fraudulent election.” [Pennsylvania Capital Star, 6/21/22]
Salt Lake Tribune: Sen. Mike Lee Says He Would Speak To Jan. 6 Committee About His Text Messages With Mark Meadows. “Sen. Mike Lee volunteered to speak with the Jan. 6 committee about text messages he sent to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows following the 2020 election. […] ‘There was some uncertainty in the wake of the election,’ Lee said. ‘As we approached the end of December, there were rumors that continued to circulate suggesting that some states were going to be reallocating — withdrawing and reallocating their electoral votes.’ Lee has repeatedly claimed he was investigating the rumors that legislators in several battleground states won by Joe Biden may appoint electors for Donald Trump. Those alternate electors were vital to a scheme cooked up by conservative lawyer John Eastman to stop or delay the certification of Biden’s win.” [Salt Lake Tribune, 6/19/22]
YourErie Pennsylvania: Jan. 6 Hearings: PA Speaker Cutler received daily voicemails From Trump’s Lawyers. “It was revealed through Josh Roselman, investigative council, during this hearing that Bryan Cutler, the Republican Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, received daily voicemails from Trump’s lawyers in the last week of November 2020 in relation to how Pennsylvania’s votes turned out in the general election… According to Roselman, Rep. Cutler found the outreach by both lawyers to be inappropriate and asked his lawyers to request that Giuliani stop calling him. However, Giuliani continued to call.” [YourErie.com, 6/21/22]
