The focus of Tuesday’s January 6 House select committee hearings focused on how then-President Donald Trump used his power in office to attempt to coerce state officials to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The House panel brought in a variety of Republican officials in battleground states to testify under oath about Trump’s behavior leading up to the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Here are a few of the highlights of Tuesday’s hearings detailing how Trump tried to subvert the Electoral College by bringing in fake electors.
Testimony by Arizona House of Representatives Speaker
The most moving testimony of the day came from Arizona House of Representatives Speaker Rusty Bowers. The conservative Republican used part of his time on the stand to detail a phone call that he received from Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani, urging him to push through fake pro-Trump electors in order to overturn the results that favored President Joe Biden.
After refusing to be used as a political pawn, Bowers said the pressure from the Trump camp only continued to mount in the following weeks. Bowers also testified on the stand that Giuliani admitted that his proposal to install illegitimate electors had never been done before.
The stoic House Speaker also told the committee about the mobs of angry protestors who stood outside his home in the days following the Capitol riots, accusing him of being a pedophile and threatening his family. During this part of the testimony, Bowers also detailed how a protestor pulled a pistol out on his neighbor. Bowers was a particularly credible witness, telling the committee how he had previously supported Trump, voting for him in both presidential elections.
Testimony by Georgia State Officials
Like Arizona, Georgia was also a battleground state with results that painted a close race between Biden and Trump. According to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his deputy Gabe Sterling, Trump did not let up in his pressure to convince the two state officials to find the votes for the president that would keep him in the Oval Office.
A large part of Tuesday’s testimony centered on calls between Trump and election officials in Georgia, including Raffensperger and Sterling. Chair of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff dissected the phone calls, detailing how Trump turned up the pressure on fellow Republicans in Georgia to confirm Trump’s assertion that the election was rigged by the Democrats.
Also like Bowers, Raffensperger also detailed the verbal attacks and threats levied against his family in an effort to convince him to quit his job. This included testimony about supporters of Trump breaking into the house of his daughter-in-law, the widow of Raffensperger’s late son and mother to his two young grandchildren.
Testimony by Election Workers
In addition to the testimony by Republican officials, Tuesday’s hearings also featured testimony from Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, both election workers in Atlanta during the November 2020 election. Both of the women were targeted by Trump and Giuliani, alleging that they were involved in voter fraud that cost the president the election.
The emotional testimony of Moss and Freeman demonstrated the toll that Trump’s campaign of fear tactics had on ordinary American citizens. Moss testified how she gained 60 pounds as a result of the stress and that the FBI told her that she was not safe in her own home due to threats levied upon her. She also talked about how she could not use her real name in many situations out of fear that people will recognize her. Freeman’s videotaped deposition discussed how she has no sense of security because of how Giuliani, Trump, and others chose them as scapegoats for their lies.
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