January 6 hearing: attack on the Capitol, Donald Trump, Ms. Ruby, Georgia, Arizona, Adam Schiff

"I urge all Americans not be distracted by politics"

Congresswomen Liz Cheney tweeted a message to her followers on Tuesday after the fourth public hearing of the Select House Committee on January 6th. 

The public heard from state legislators, other elected officials, and public servants who have all been harassed and sent death threats after they were attacked by Donald Trump and his allies. 

The powerful hearing comes after news broke that the rioters who entered the Capitol chanting "hang Mike Pence" came within forty feet of the former vice president and his family during the attack. 

January 6th

Who are Shaye Moss and Lady Ruby? What did they say when speaking to the January 6th Committee?

The fourth hearing of the House Select Committee on January 6th closed with testimony from Shayne Moss, a former election worker in Fulton County, Georgia.

Ms. Moss worked at the Department of Elections and Registrations in Georgia from 2017 to 2022. In her role she was responsible for handling voter applications and absentee ballot requests. On Election Day in 2020 she was tasked with processing ballots.

These responsibilities made her a target of President Trump as he peddled dangerous claims of fraud that more than 400,000 illegal votes had been counted Georgia. What shocked many was that not only Ms. Moss, but her mother, Ms. Ruby Freeman, “became the target of nasty lies spread by President Trump and his allies.”

Read our full coverage for more details. 

Recap: Fourth Select House Committee Hearing

Chairmen Bennie Thompson has gaveled this hearing to a close. 

Many new details were provided during these two panels. 

For those who tuned in during the last hour, heard from a Georgia election worker in Fulton County, Shaye Moss, detail her experience after President Trump spread lies about her mother. 

Ms. Ruby, a business owner in Georgia and the mother of Shaye, was called a "professional election scammer," by the then-president. She now lives in fear for her life after her phone number and address were posted online. She has had to close her businesses and her daughter and all of her co-workers have quit their jobs after the threats they received. 

Earlier we heard from the then Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State of Georgia in 2020. Both official detailed the threats they have received from Trump supporters and spoke to how difficult Trumps's comments about fraud made their jobs. Deputy Sterling made a public speech calling on the president and his inner circle to stop spreading false claims over people may becomes violent. 

The Arizona Speaker of the House, Rutsy Bowser, testified about calls from the president and Rudy Guliani that evidence of fraud had been found in his state. Based on this information he was asked to convene the legislature to reject the certification of the election. He told them that this would go against his oath as a public servant and that he would not go with through with any of their requests. 

Mother of a Georgia election worker about the impacts of President Trump's actions

There is no where I feel safe. Nowhere. Do you know how it feels to have the President of the United States targeting you? The President of the United States is supposed to represent every american, not to target one. But he targeted me, Lady Ruby, the small business owner, a mother, a proud american citizen, who stood up to help Fulton County run an election in the middle of the pandemic. 

Many election workers have quit their jobs after

After the events on January 6th and President Trump’s big lie none of the workers or supervisors in Fulton County, Georgia, that were working at the time of the 2020 Election because of the threats on their lives and harassment they received after the President Trump began to spread his lies. 

Donald Trump said that mother of election worker was a "professional vote scammer."

Ruby Freeman, the mother, spoke with the Select Committee and the impact President Trump's comments had on her life and reputation. 

After the threats she received, she will not even introduce herself to others, and she has constant anxiety about saying her name out loud . "I have lost my reputation and my security," said Ms. Ruby. 

She felt like a pawn, used to help the president spread his lies and a scapegoat. 

Committee now in recess before second panel 

Georgia found four votes by deceased people

The President had stated that more than 4,000 dead people had voted, as well as thousands of underage people and non-registered voters. All in all less than four votes under these categories were found by the state of Georgia. Nevertheless, he used these claims to put pressure on officials. 

"I don't care about the link!" said the President after officials told him they would send the evidence that his claims were unfounded.

Later in the call, the President said that he wanted to "find 11,780 votes because we won the state." The Secretary of State told the president that there were no votes to find. 

The plan to appoint 'fake electors' was not 'legally sound'

Officials from the White House Counsel's Office say President Trump's plan to appoint 'fake electors' was not legally sound. The video has put together a video with many officials from both the White House Counsel's Office, the Department of Justice, and the Republican National Committee, speaking to their unease and pushback to the plan promoted by President Trump. 

Georgian officials speak to how President Trump undermined their credibility

Georgia officials speak to how the President's efforts to mislead the public created immense challenges for the state to show that their votes were counted correctly and legally. 

"I just know in my heart that they cheated" said one lawyer to the Deputy Secretary of State. These comments were made to show just how much of an impact Donald Trump's rhetoric had on individuals across the country. 

Deputy Secretary of State of Georgia, Gabe Sterling, responding to threats from Trump in 2020

"Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed. Its not right." 

Chairmen Bennie Thompson saws President Trump had a "special obsession" with Georgia. 

The Committee will not turn to Georgia for state officials to share their experiences in late 2020 and early 2021. 

A short recess will begin now after the testimony of Arizona Speaker Rusty Bowers. 

Republican National Committee was asked to help find electors who would overturn election

RNC Chairwomen, Ronna McDaniel, was interviewed by the Select Committee and said that she and the RNC were asked to help find state electors to appoint who would conduct a separate certification to re-elect Donald Trump. 

Fake electors did end up meeting in Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico, Wisconsin and others and they signed documents that they were the duly elected selectors and submitted the documents to the National Archives. The Trump administration made efforts to ensure that these documents were sent to Washington DC to help influence Vice President Mike Pence to reject the results of the election when presiding over the Joint Session of Congress on January 6th. 

Liz Cheney provides an overview of today's hearing

In her opening statement, Committee Vice Chairwomen Liz Cheney spoke to how Donald Trump worked to pressure state election, similar to that exerted on his Vice President Mike Pence. 

Those listening will hear about various phone calls the President and his allies made to officials, calling on them to undermine the results in their election.  Former-Attorney General Bill Barr told the Committee that his own Department had  conducted investigations and told the president that his claims were unfounded. 

Second, the public will hear about how these officials grew very concerned that if the president continued to push these lies, there could be massive amounts of violence. These officials will detail death threats sent to election officials who were doing their job to ensure that each legal vote was counted. 

Arizona Speaker Rusty Bowers is first individual to be questioned

Speaker of the Arizona House Rusty Bowers, a conservative Republican who campaigned for Donald Trump was the first member of the panel to testify. Bowers says he voted for President Trump and hoped he would win.

Just before the hearing began, Donald Trump released a statement that called Bowers a Republican in Name Only (RINO). Trump also claimed that Bowers told him that he said that Trump had won the election in Arizona. Bowers has made clear that he never made any claims that the election was rigged or the Trump had won in Arizona.   

Speaker Bowers receives a call from the White House

After the 2020 election, Bowers received a call from the White House. Both PresidentDonald Trump and Rudy Giuliani were on the phone. Bowers asked for evidence that there was widespread fraud in Arizona. Both Trump and Giuliani said that there were hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and dead people who voted. Bowers asked for names, but none were ever provided.  

The Speaker was also asked if he would come to hold an official committee hearing in the Arizona legislature to present the White House's evidence. Bowers rejected the offer when no evidence was provided because he "did not want to be used as a pawn." 

The White House did host a hearing in a ballroom at a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona to talk about the "evidence" of election fraud. Bowers rejected that this was an "official" hearing of the Arizona legislature. Bowers had denied the request to hold an office meeting but told the White House they were free to hold their own, unofficial hearing.

The President then told Bowers that their legal counsel had heard of a legal theory that would allow him to appoint electors that would overturn the results of the election. At that point, he told them that all future contact should go through his attorney. 

"I will not violate my oath of office" 

Bowers told the White House that he would not violate his oath on more than one occasion. 

Bowers recalled a conversation with Rudy Giuliani where he said that they had a lot of theories but no evidence, which shocked the Speaker and his legal team. When speaking with his lawyers this comment confused them and they thought that it may have been a gaff. 

Still today, protestors visit the home of Speaker Bowers and threaten his neighbors and make false statements that he committed treason and even attack his character by calling him a pedophile. The protests have upset his children and his wife and they have all found the events disturbing. 

Chairmen Bennie Thompson introduces today's first panel. 

Donald Trump posted the Michigan Majority Leader's phone number on Twitter

Mike Shirkey, who serves as the House Majority Leader in Michigan had his personal phone number posted on Twitter. He received thousands of calls, some of which were threatening. 

He was not the only official to have their personal information leaked. Others saw their home addresses posted on the internet and faced volatile protests while they and their families were home. Some of these protestors were recorded saying "the punishment for treason is death." 

Bennie Thompson on the threat state election officials faced

When they wouldn't embrace the big lie [...] Donald Trump made sure that they would face the consequencese 

New polls find that voters believe that Donald Trump should be charged for provoking January 6th riot

A new poll from ABC News finds that 58 percent American voters believe that Donald Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the January 6th riot. The organization, who has been tracking public opinion on this topic, reported that this rate has increased from 52 percent in April. 

However, when the results are broken down by political party, responses vary widely; 91 percent of Democrats believe charges should be brought, compared to just 19 percent of Republicans. The rate for independent voters has inched up to 62 percent. If Republicans hope to win over some of these voters they may have to soften their position that the former-President played no role in the chaos.  

Who will testify during the fourth hearing for the Select Committee?

A few state election officials from Arizona and Georgia will testify: 

- Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State

- Gabe Sterling, Deputy Secretary of State of Georgia 

- Shaye Moss, a Georgia election worker

- Russell "Rusty" Bowers, Arizona House Speaker 

Texas GOP says they reject the results of the 2020 election

The fourth hearing comes after the proposed platform for the Republican Party in Texas includes text that rejects the outcome of the 2020 election.

"We believe that the 2020 election violated Article 1 and 2 of the US Constitution, that various secretaries of state illegally circumvented their state legislatures in conducting their elections in multiple ways, including by allowing ballots to be received after November 3, 2020. We believe that substantial election fraud in key metropolitan areas significantly affected the results in five key states in favor of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr," reads the platform. 

This text includes information related to the accusations that the public will hear more information about during today's hearing. 

LATEST NEWS

Who will testify at the next January 6 committee hearings on Tuesday, June 21?

Today's hearing will feature testimony from state election officials in Georgia. The officials will provide details on the conversations they had with Donald Trump to say that high levels of fraud had taken place to sew doubt that the President Biden had not won the election. 

Read more.

What can we expect to learn in the fourth hearing from the Select Committee on January 6th?

"In our [fourth] hearing, you will see evidence that President Trump corruptly pressured state legislators and election officials to change election results. You will hear additional details about President Trump’s call to Georgia officials urging them to ‘find’ 11,780 voted – votes that did not exist, and his efforts to get states to rescind certified electoral slates without factual basis and contrary to law.

US NEWS

What have we learned so far about the January 6 attack on the Capitol and when are the next sessions?

Despite the cost of living crisis dominating the mind sof most Americans, the House select committee investigating the events of January 6 continues its efforts unabated. At the halfway point of proceedings, much has been released, including dozens of testimonies from Donald Trump insiders and allies, explaining their role in the riot and the events surrounding it.

Alongside that, the panel has heard from first responders to the scene, including police officers who were woefully underprepared to prevent the riot.

Read our full coverage for information on what the public has learned so far.