PRESS RELEASE Contact: [email protected]
For Immediate Release
Date: September 28, 2022
Washington, DC —Today, Noah Bookbinder, President of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Jim Williams of Public Policy Polling, Christina Baal-Owens, Executive Director of Public Wise, and Brad Woodhouse, co-chair of Defend Democracy Project, joined a virtual press briefing hosted by Defend Democracy Project, to discuss the January 6th Committee hearings, MAGA Republicans’ ongoing threat to our country and our right to vote, and new polling results conducted by Defend Democracy Project and Public Policy Polling.
The hearings have shown, without a doubt, that Trump and MAGA Republicans engaged in a violent criminal conspiracy to overturn an election they lost – and they have not stopped. As investigations ramp up, they have shown that they will go to illegal and violent lengths to gain and stay in power, and they must be held accountable in the courts. This is the only way we will protect our right to vote, choose our own leaders, and stop the ongoing campaign to overturn future elections.
“One of the most striking things about those hearings is that they provided so much of what Donald Trump knew and what those around him knew. There was really incredible testimony of him having heard over and over again from senior campaign officials, including Attorney General Bill Barr, that he had lost the election,” said Noah Bookbinder, President of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “The committee has really established the incredible level of violence that was involved in these efforts, not just the horrible violence aimed at the police officers, but specific on the part of a lot of those there. The amount of violence that the committee has established is extremely overwhelming.”
“We found that a majority of voters nationwide support the Jan 6 investigation, but also importantly, most American voters viewed Donald Trump as the problem. Voters are finding concerns with what the committee has found so far,” said Jim Williams of Public Policy Polling. “They have very serious concerns about Donald Trump demanding that Mike Pence overturn the election result for him even after his White House lawyers told them that was illegal.”
“Public Wise did focus groups of non-voters from 2020, and one of the top reasons individuals sat out the election across the battleground states we did these focus groups in was a lack of accountability. People would say things such as, ‘I am not going to stand in line for hours when I can cast a vote and someone can throw it out and nothing will ever happen to them. They’ll never go to jail, but probably run for office instead,’” said Christina Baal-Owens, Executive Director of Public Wise. “The overarching message was that a lack of accountability was a real barrier to participation. At Public Wise, we are most concerned that 208 insurrectionists in our database have won their primaries or otherwise advanced to the generals and will be on the ballot in November. This is a tremendous threat to our democracy.”
“There has been a breathtaking amount of news since the last hearing. We have seen massive movement on investigations from the committee and the Justice Department. Even with all of this evidence piling up against Donald Trump, he continues to attempt to avoid accountability and take to Truth Social to spread conspiracy theories echoed by his supporters,” said Defend Democracy Project co-chair, Brad Woodhouse. “It is clearer than ever that the MAGA Republican movement, led by Donald Trump, continues to undermine elections, avoid accountability, and threaten our right to vote.”
Watch the full briefing here.
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