Georgia, Arizona GOP officials to testify before Jan. 6 panel

The fourth Jan. 6 hearing on Tuesday will focus on pressure put by President Donald Trump and his allies on state officials in Georgia, Arizona and elsewhere to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

The U.S. House hearing will include live testimony from Republican officials in those states, committee aides said Monday. It begins at 1 p.m. ET and will be streamed through the committee website.

The pressure on state-level officials was part of a broader scheme Trump pursued to overturn his election loss, which eventually led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the committee argues.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling will appear before the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6th, 2021, Attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

In a call that was recorded and made public, Trump called Raffensperger following the November election and pressured him to “find” enough ballots to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state. 

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers will also testify before the panel about how Trump pushed state officials to overturn Biden’s victory in that state. He will discuss pressure he received directly from Trump, Rudy Giuliani and others in the former president’s orbit, committee aides said. 

Raffensperger and Bowers both hold elected office as Republicans.

Fake electors

The committee will also take a detailed look at the “unprecedented” scheme to replace legitimate electors with slates of electors who would cast Electoral College votes for Trump, overturning the election results in their states, aides said.

The committee will present text messages from former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that show the former North Carolina congressman was directly involved in campaigns to get Republican state officials to reject election results.

Former Georgia election worker Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss will also testify. Trump accused Moss by name of election fraud, leading to threats of violence, aides said.

In addition to the live witnesses, the panel will present recorded testimony from officials in other states who were pressed by the Trump campaign and White House to overturn legitimate election results, aides said Monday. 

Other states Trump and his allies targeted in the fake electors scheme include Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Witnesses appearing via taped testimony would also include Trump White House and campaign officials, aides said.

Debunked claims

Trump’s complaints about the election’s integrity are not based in fact and have been widely debunked. Trump knew the claims were not true — and that they could lead to violence — but continued to push them anyway, the committee will show, aides said.

Raffensperger will testify that his office investigated claims of election fraud and could not substantiate any, committee aides said.

Sterling will talk about the increasing threats of violence because of Trump’s continued untrue fraud claims, aides said.

The panel will also show Trump was warned that his actions could incite further violence, but continued to push false fraud claims anyway, aides said. 

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who also chairs the Select Intelligence Committee, will lead the presentation of the state-official pressure scheme, aides said.