- Title: Spotlight expected on Georgia; Arizona as January 6 Committee resumes hearings
- Date: 21st June 2022
- Summary: KENNESAW, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES (FILE - MAY 23, 2022) (Reuters) GEORGIA GOVERNOR BRIAN KEMP GREETS FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE, SAYING: "And when you say yes to Governor Brian Kemp tomorrow, you will send a deafening message all across America that the Republican Party is the party of the futur
- Embargoed: 5th July 2022 03:02
- Keywords: Arizona Georgia January 6 Trump U.S. Capitol attack hearings
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C.; ATLANTA + DALTON + KENNESAW, GEORGIA; BOSTON. MASSACHUSETTS; JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES; UNKNOWN LOCATION
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C.; ATLANTA + DALTON + KENNESAW, GEORGIA; BOSTON. MASSACHUSETTS; JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES; UNKNOWN LOCATION
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA00C616920062022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Two Georgia election officials that former President Donald Trump tried to pressure to "find" votes that would overturn his defeat in that state will testify on Tuesday (June 21) at the hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gabriel Sterling, an official who works in that office, are Republicans who defended the integrity of the Georgia election despite intense pressure from Trump.
Trump lost both Georgia and Arizona to President Biden, but he and officials with his reelection campaign pushed top officials in those states to overturn the election results, in part through a scheme to submit alternate, pro-Trump slates of electors.
In Georgia, Trump urged Raffensberger in a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call to "find" enough votes to make him the winner, though Raffensperger repeatedly rebuffed the president's efforts and refuted claims of widespread voter fraud in Georgia.
Both Raffensperger and Sterling defended the integrity of Georgia's election and faced intense criticism for their actions, receiving death threats and, in the case of Raffensperger, a censure by the state Republican Party.
Despite the backlash, Raffensperger defeated Trump-backed Rep. Jody Hice and two other candidates who challenged him in the Republican primary last month for secretary of state.
Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers is also expected to testify Tuesday before the U.S. House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to azcentral.
The committee wants Bowers to talk about the pressure he got from President Trump and his allies to overturn the results of Arizona's 2020 presidential election, according to reports.
In Arizona, Bowers, who backed Trump in 2020, received a call from Trump and Giuliani, the former president's lawyer, in late November 2020 urging him to have the state legislature substitute a slate of presidential electors, overriding Mr. Biden's win in the state, according to the Arizona Republic.
Bowers also received an email from Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in early November 2020 urging him to select a "clean slate of electors," according to the Washington Post. The committee has asked to speak with Thomas, and she told The Daily Caller she looks forward to talking with House investigators, azcentral reported.
Trump, has continued to make false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. On Friday (June 17), he lashed out at former Vice President Mike Pence, saying he "did not have the courage to act" and reject the 2020 election results.
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