PRESS RELEASE Contact: [email protected]
For Immediate Release
Date: June 21, 2022
“This is a Tragic Parody.” – Rusty Bowers (R), Arizona House Speaker & Witness
“Embarrassed that I was fooled by the Fulton County ‘suitcases of ballots’ hoax.” – Dustin Stockton, a January 6th White House rally organizer
“This was so straightforward, so deliberate.” – Andrea Mitchell, NBC News
“This is compelling testimony… It’s powerful.” – Bret Baier, FOX News
Washington, DC – Here’s what journalists, legal experts, and Committee members are saying about the fourth hearing of the January 6th Select Committee. Even Fox News’ Bret Baier tuned in to call today’s testimony “compelling.”
Rep. Adam Schiff on CNN (Video) immediately following today’s hearing: This plot to overturn the election likely violated multiple federal laws.
Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Boston Globe Senior Opinion Writer, @KimberlyEAtkins: Listening to Shaye Moss, I’m reminded about how often the very people who are least protected by this nation’s constitutional principals are also so often the people who fight hardest to preserve them.
John Harwood, CNN White House Correspondent, @JohnJHarwood: whatever its other consequences, the Jan. 6 committee is pushing the national political conversation toward clearer distinctions between truth and lies, right and wrong, people who actually uphold American values and dangerous frauds who trash them for power or money or both
Caitlin Huey-Burns, CBS News Political Correspondent, @CHueyBurns: This testimony from Bowers–that Trump and allies *repeatedly* pressured him to work to override his state’s election results and he did not– is a reminder of how consequential [it is] that election deniers are running for offices around the country.
Sam Stein, POLITICO’s White House editor, @samstein: I guess I’m struck by how elaborate this scheme actually was. It wasn’t Trump rage tweeting and Eastman and Rudy going around trying to hope something into existence. They were extremely persistent and intentional. And they had allies all over the place (in addition to foils)
Ryan Goodman, former DOD Special Counsel, @rgoodlaw: Mr. Bowers’ testimony is bombshell-level. It adds significantly to Trump-Eastman’s criminal exposure for Pence scheme and for Trump in Georgia state crimes. Strong evidence of course of conduct to pressure election officials to betray oaths to overturn election.
Harry Litman, former U.S. Attorney, @harrylitman: So here is the core and actual gravaman, as the lawyers say, of the crime: the pieces of paper they forced the false electors to sign certifying that they were “duly certified,” when they weren’t.
Bret Baier, Fox News Anchor, Fox News (Video): This is compelling testimony from a Republican who is the leader of the House of Representatives in the state of Arizona, who was being asked by Trump officials, including Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis and others, to decertify the election and install another slate of electors… It’s powerful.
Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Washington Correspondent, MSNBC (Video) on Speaker Bowers’ testimony: “This was so straightforward, so deliberate… I don’t even know how to summarize the power of his straightforward testimony.”
Jake Tapper, CNN Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent, CNN (Video): “We just heard powerful testimony from the conservative Republican Arizona Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers who talked about the pressure campaign to which he was subjected by Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani…”
Dustin Stockton, a January 6th White House rally organizer, @DustinStockton: This has been the most impactful of the January 6th Committee hearings. Embarrassed that I was fooled by the Fulton County “suitcases of ballots” hoax.
Renato Mariotti, former federal prosecutor, @renato_mariotti: The “fake elector” certificates are the closest we’ve seen to straightforward criminal charges. They contain false statements, and if DOJ can prove that individuals knew those statements were false and were going to be submitted to the federal government, that’s a federal crime.
Proving that a defendant knowingly and willfully made a false statement is more difficult than you might think. But prosecuting people who lie to the federal government is something DOJ does on a regular basis.
Leigh Ann Caldwell, Washington Post reporter, @LACaldwellDC: With the revelation that @RonJohnsonWI offered to hand deliver false electors, this is the first time the Jan6 hearing has highlighted the actions of a senator.
Mallory McMorrow, Michigan State Senator, @MalloryMcMorrow:
Hold up. A US Senator FROM ANOTHER STATE tried to take away MICHIGAN’S votes!?!?
Greg Sargent, The Washington Post columnist, @ThePlumLineGS:
As you watch today’s hearing detailing Trump’s corrupt pressure on state legislators, don’t lose sight of this: Trump has told us clearly he’ll do it all again once more pliable actors are in place. That’s in the works right now. This is about our future.
Greg Sargent, @ThePlumLineGS: Two big things will likely be different in 2024:
* Trumpists will have more control over certification
* Republicans will likely control the House, empowering them to count sham electors
In that context, Trump’s signal of intent for 2024 looms large: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/21/jan-6-hearing-trump-will-do-it-again/
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The Select Committee will continue to lay out real evidence gathered by non-partisan career prosecutors proving that Trump and his MAGA allies planned, promoted, and paid for a criminal conspiracy to overturn an election they lost.
This criminal conspiracy extends well beyond the violence perpetrated on January 6, 2021, that injured 140 police officers, including making it harder for people to vote, attempting to appoint bogus electors to overturn the will of voters, and intimidating state officials to change the results in contested states.
Getting to the truth during these hearings and then demanding accountability at the courts and the ballot box is how we stop the current MAGA campaign to sabotage future elections by changing state laws, threatening state officials, and packing election administration offices so that they can have the final say over election results – even when they lose.
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