Jan. 6 Committee: Watch Tuesday's hearing focused on pressuring state officials to take action

Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said that the next hearing, on Thursday, will focus on Trump's efforts to use the Department of Justice (DOJ) to overturn the 2020 election results.

"On Thursday, we hear about another part of that scheme. His attempt to corrupt the country's top law enforcement body, the Justice Department, to support his attempt to overturn the election," Thompson said at the conclusion of Tuesday's hearing.

Thursday's hearing will be the fifth public hearing the committee has held.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 21: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Vice Chairwoman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, delivers remarks during the fourth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence for almost a year related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, is presenting its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Jan. 6 Committee Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said the lawmakers are working to get former Trump counsel Pat Cipollone's testimony.

She said that the American people have heard from other former Trump administration officials, but should also hear from Cipollone.

"The American people in our hearings have heard from Bill Barr, Jeff Rosen, Richard Donohue and many others who stood up and did what is right. And they will hear more of that testimony soon. But the American people have not yet heard from Mr. Trump's former White House counsel, Pat Cipollone. Our committee is certain that Donald Trump does not want Mr. Cipollone to testify here."

"Indeed, our evidence shows that Mr. Cipollone and his office tried to do what is right. They tried to stop a number of President Trump's plans for January 6th today. And in our coming hearings, you will hear testimony from other Trump White House staff explaining what Mr. Cipollone said and did, including on January 6. But we think the American people deserve to hear from Mr. Cipollone personally. He should appear before this committee and we are working to secure his testimony."

In his concluding remarks, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called former President Trump's actions "un-American" and "downright dangerous," but said "others" must decide if they were criminal.

"Other countries use violence to seize and hold power, but not in the United States. not in America. When Donald Trump used the power of the presidency to try to stay in office after losing the election to Joe Biden, he broke that sacred and centuries old covenant. Whether his actions were criminal will ultimately be for others to decide," said Schiff.

"It was unpatriotic and it was fundamentally un-American. And when he used the power of his presidency to put the enormous pressure on state, local and local elections officials and his own vice president, it became downright dangerous. On January 6th, that pressure became deadly."

"Ruby Freeman said the president is supposed to protect every American, not target them. And she is right. If the most powerful person in the world can bring the full weight of the presidency down on an ordinary citizen was merely doing her job with a lie as big and heavy as a mountain. Who among us is safe? None of us is."

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 21: Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss (L), former Georgia election worker, is comforted by her mother Ruby Freeman (R) as Moss testifies during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence for almost a year related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, is presenting its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for President Joe Biden. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The Jan. 6 Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said "the harassment of election workers like you is a threat to our democratic process."

Thompson praised Georgia election worker Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, who faced vile threats after being falsely accused of smuggling ballots in Georgia.

"Your testimony is an important contribution to the work of our committee and serves as a reminder to all of us that the safety of local election officials is vital to ensuring that our elections, always free and fair."

Former Georgia election worker Wandrea ArShaye Moss gets emotional as she testifies during the fourth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC, on June 21, 2022. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Georgia election worker Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss, who had loved working at the Fulton County Registration and Elections Department for over 10 years, received threats after Trump and his associates accused her of smuggling ballots.

Schiff asked Moss: "President Trump, Rudy Giuliani and others claimed on the basis of this video that you and your mother were somehow involved in a plot to kick out observers, bring suitcases of false ballots for Biden into the arena and then run them through the machines multiple times. None of that was true, was it?"

Moss responded: "None of it."

As a result of Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani's accusations, both Moss and her mother received death threats.

Moss received a "lot of threats wishing death upon me, telling me that, you know, I'm I'll be in jail with my mother."

"A lot of them were racist. A lot of them were just hateful."

Schiff continued: "Mr. Giuliani accused you and your mother of passing some sort of USB drive to each other. What was your mom actually handing you on that video?"

Moss responded: "A ginger mint."

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a presser Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Tuesday that former President Donald Trump's supporters issued "sexualized threats" to his wife and that he got a barrage of texts and emails after refusing to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

"After the election, my email, my cell phone was doxxed. And so I was getting texts all over the country," Raffensperger said in a Jan. 6 Committee hearing Tuesday. "And then eventually my wife started getting the texts and hers typically came in as sexualized texts, which were disgusting."

"We met in high school. We were married over 40 years now. And so they started going after her. I think just to probably put pressure on me -- why don't you just quit, walk away?" Raffensperger added.

The secretary of state said there was even a break-in at his daughter-in-law's house.

"And then some people broke into my daughter in law's home," he said. "And my son has passed and she's a widow and has two kids. And so we're very concerned about her safety also."

The U.S. Capitol Police gave the "all clear" for a suspicious package found outside of the house office building where the Jan. 6 Committee is currently conducting its hearing.

"ALL CLEAR. The USCP has cleared the incident with the Suspicious Package outside the Northwest Door of the Cannon House Office Building. The area has reopened and any associated door or road closures will clear momentarily."

Fox News' Kelly Phares and Chad Pergram contributed reporting.

The Jan. 6 Committee's witnesses debunked two major Trump claims about supposed voter fraud in Georgia.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger: "Did your office investigate whether those allegations were accurate? Did 5,000 dead people in Georgia vote?"

Raffensperger responded: "No, it's not. We found two dead people when I wrote my letter to Congress. That's dated January 6. And subsequent to that, we found two more. That's one, two, three, four people, not 4,000, but just a total of four. Not 10,000, not 5,000."

In addition, Raffensperger responded to the Trump claim that 18,000 ballots were smuggled out of voting centers through "suitcases," calling it "categorically false."

Brad Raffensperger (L), Georgia Secretary of State and Gabriel Sterling, Georgia Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer, testify during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Georgia Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling testified that he told then-President Trump that they were investigating, but that he had lost the state of Georgia.

Sterling said he told Trump: "Mr. President, it looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia. We're investigating. There's always a possibility. I get it. And you have the rights to go to the courts. What? You don't have the ability to do. And you need to step up and say this is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone's going to get hurt. Someone's going to get shot. Someone's going to get killed. And it's not right. It's not right."

He continued to testify that he had been told of a "young contractor" who had been receiving threats, which put him over the edge and he lost his temper during a press conference.

Schiff stated: "Nevertheless, the very next day on December 2nd, President Trump released a lengthy video again making false claims of election fraud in Georgia."

Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State, is sworn in during the fourth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC, on June 21, 2022. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

"So the state of Georgia is where we will turn our attention to next," said Jan. 6 Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.

"I want to emphasize that our investigation into these issues is still ongoing. As I stated in our last hearing, if you have relevant information or documentary evidence to share with the select committee, we welcome your cooperation," Thompson continued.

The next witnesses testifying are Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Georgia Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling.

Capitol police officers are responding to a suspicious package outside the building, Cannon House Office Building, where the Jan. 6 Committee is conducting its hearing.

"The USCP is responding to a Suspicious Package outside the Northwest Door of the Cannon House Office Building."

"Staff and other personnel are directed to AVOID THIS AREA until further notice. Updates will be provided when available."

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 21: Rusty Bowers, Arizona House Speaker, testifies during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence for almost a year related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, is presenting its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for President Joe Biden. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Arizona House Speaker Russell Bowers, a Republican, said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., asked him on Jan. 6, 2021, if he would be willing to publicly support the decertification of Arizona's electors.

"He asked if I would sign on both to a letter that had been sent from my state and/or that I would support the decertification of the electors," Bowers said. "And I said I would not," he continued.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 21: Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears on a video screen during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence for almost a year related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, is presenting its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for President Joe Biden. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The Jan. 6 Committee revealed a series of video depositions and documents Tuesday showing the Trump campaign's efforts to gather "fake electors" and deploy them to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6.

"In this next segment, you'll hear how President Trump and his campaign were directly involved in advancing and coordinating the plot to replace legitimate Biden electors with fake electors not chosen by the voters. You'll hear how this campaign convinced these fake electors to cast and submit their votes through fake certificates, telling them that their votes would only be used in the event that President Trump won his legal challenges," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

"Yet when the president lost those legal challenges, when courts rejected them as frivolous and without merit, the fake elector scheme continued. At this point, President Trump's own lawyers, so-called 'Team Normal,' walked away rather than participate in the plan. And his own White House counsel's office said that the plan was not legally sound," Schiff continued.

The video played by the committee revealed testimony by many officials within the Trump campaign and in the states who recounted the "fake electors" plan.

This included a Trump campaign lawyer named Kenneth Chesbrough who wrote a memo "arguing that the Trump campaign should organize its own electors in the swing states that President Trump had lost."

The "fake electors" ended up meeting on Dec. 14, 2020 in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Nevada and Wisconsin.

"At the request of the Trump campaign, the electors from these battleground states signed documents falsely asserting that they were the 'duly elected electors from their state' and submitted them to the National Archives and to Vice President Pence in his capacity as president of the Senate," stated committee staff investigator Casey Lucier.

"Text messages exchanged between Republican Party officials in Wisconsin show that on January 4th, the Trump campaign asked for someone to fly their fake lectors documents to Washington. A staffer for Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson texted a staffer for Vice President Pence just minutes before the beginning of the joint session. The staffer stated that Senator Johnson wished to hand deliver to the vice president the fake electors votes from Michigan and Wisconsin. The vice president's aide unambiguous, instructed them not to deliver the fake votes to the vice president."

However, the video continued: "Even though the fake elector ballots were transmitted to Congress and the executive branch, the vice president held firm," and certified the 2020 election results on Jan. 6, said Lucier.

Johnson's spokesperson denied he had involvement in the creation of alternate electors.

"The senator had no involvement in the creation of an alternate slate of electors and had no foreknowledge that it was going to be delivered to our office. This was a staff to staff exchange. His new Chief of Staff contacted the Vice President’s office," Johnson spokesperson Alexa Henning said in a tweet.

"The Vice President’s office said not to give it to him and we did not. There was no further action taken. End of story," she continued.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 21: Rusty Bowers, Arizona House Speaker, testifies during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence for almost a year related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, is presenting its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt to disrupt a congressional vote to confirm the electoral college win for President Joe Biden. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Arizona state House Speaker Russell Bowers, a Republican, told the Jan. 6 Committee Tuesday that Trump allies, including lawyer Rudy Giuliani, asked him to violate his oath to the Constitution during a phone call after the 2020 presidential election.

"That's totally new to me. I've never heard of any such thing," Bowers said of his reaction when Giuliani and others presented him with the legal theory that the state legislature could replace then-President-elect Biden's electors.

"He pressed that point and I said, look, you are asking me to do something that is counter to my oath when I swore to the Constitution to uphold it. And I also swore to the Constitution and the laws of the state of Arizona," Bowers added.

"I would never do anything of such magnitude without deep consultation with qualified attorneys," he added. "And I said, 'I've got some good attorneys and I'm going to give you their names. But you're asking me to do something against my oath. And I will not break my oath.'"

Bowers said there was no quality evidence of fraud, and that he was deeply disturbed what he was being asked to do.

"It is a tenant of my faith that the Constitution is divinely inspired," Bowers said. "And my most basic foundational beliefs -- and so for me to do that because somebody just asked me to, was foreign to my very being. I will not do it."

Former President Donald Trump's spokesman responded to the Jan. 6 Committee's hearing in a tweet Tuesday.

"The J6 Unselect Committee is turning to the least credible and biggest shamster, Adam Schiff, to lead today’s circus," Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said. "No facts. No substance. Just more lies and deception out of a Democrat Party that’s drunk on power."

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 21: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) delivers remarks during the fourth hearing by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. The bipartisan committee, which has been gathering evidence for almost a year related to the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, is presenting its findings in a series of televised hearings. On January 6, 2021, supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol Building during an attempt (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., during a Jan. 6 Committee hearing Tuesday highlighted a pressure campaign from former President Donald Trump and his allies on state legislators asking to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

"The state pressure campaign and the danger it posed to state officials and to state capitals around the nation was a dangerous precursor to the violence we saw on January 6th," Schiff said.

Among those efforts, according to the committee, was millions in spending by Trump's campaign on ads asking supporters to call state legislators and demand they "hear the evidence."

Trump even tweeted Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey's personal phone number as part of that campaign.

"All I remember is recieving over, just shy of 4,000 text messages over a short period of time, calling to take action," Shirkey said in video played by the committee.

Shirkey said Trump's supporters were "believing things that were untrue."

Pennsylvania House Speaker Brian Cutler, a Republican, recieved "daily voicemails from Trump's lawyers," after the election, according to the committee. Cutler said there were multiple protests outside of his district office and home, and "all of my personal information was doxxed online."

"We had to disconnect our home phone for about three days because it would ring all hours of the night," Cutler said.

Jan. 6 Committee Ranking Member Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Tuesday that the Justice Department should look into former President Donald Trump's efforts to pressure state and local officials to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

"The same people who were attempting to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes illegally were also simultaneously working to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election at the state level," Cheney said in an opening statement at the committee's Tuesday hearing.

Cheney added: "Each of these efforts to overturn the election is independently serious. Each deserves attention both by Congress and by our Department of Justice."

Cheney's comment comes as the committee considers just how far it will go in referring Trump or others in his orbit to the Justice Department for prosecution.

Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., center, flanked by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., left, and Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. ((AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite))

Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said at the committee's latest hearing Tuesday that it will prove former President Donald Trump knew the 2020 election was not stolen yet still tried to overturn it.

"Everything we describe today, the relentless destructive pressure campaign on state and local officials was all based on a lie. Donald Trump knew it," Thompson said in his opening remarks. "He did it anyway."

Thompson highlighted that Trump not only pressured former Vice President Mike Pence to not certify the election, but that he exerted massive pressure on state and local officials.

"Today will show that what happened to Mike Pence wasn't an isolated part of Donald Trump's scheme to overturn," Thompson said. "In fact, pressuring public servants into betraying their old was a fundamental part of the playbook."

"Like Mike Pence, these public servants wouldn't go along with Donald Trump's scheme," Thompson continued. "And when they wouldn't embrace the big lie and substitute the will of the voters with Donald Trump's will to remain in power, Donald Trump worked they'd face the consequences. Threats to peoples' livelihoods and lives. Threats of violence that Donald Trump knew about and amplified."

Thompson also warned of an allegedly continuing threat to U.S. elections from people who continue to believe Trump's false election claims and are seeking public offices that relate to elections.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 21: (L-R) Rusty Bowers, Arizona House Speaker; Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State; and Gabriel Sterling, Georgia Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer, are sworn in prior to testifying during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The Jan. 6 Committee Tuesday gaveled in its latest hearing, this time set to focus on former President Donald Trump's pressure campaign to overturn key states' election results after they voted for President Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

The star witnesses are set to be Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Georgia Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling. Both spoke out vocally against Trump's false claims the election was stolen in late 2020 and early 2021.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is set to lead the hearing for the committee.

British filmmaker Alex Holder Tuesday said that he complied with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 Committee for footage he took during former President Donald Trump's reelection campaign, after Election Day 2020, and during and after the attack on the Capitol.

In a tweet, Holder said he had "no agenda coming into this."

"We simply wanted to better understand who the trumps were and what motivated them to hold onto power so desperately," Holder added. "We have dutifully handed over all the materials the Committee has asked for and we are fully cooperating."

Holder's tweet said he will appear for a deposition with the committee Thursday. It also said Holder previously was not able to hand over the materials because he'd sold the planned documentary to a "major streaming service."

The subpoena and planned deposition underscores that the Jan. 6 Committee continues its investigation into Trump and the Jan. 6 attack, even as it holds a series of hearings outlining Trump's alleged culpability for the attack on the Capitol. The committee faces a likely deadline of the end of the year to complete its work, as Democrats are expected to lose control of the House in the midterm elections.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 16: US Representative Bennie Thompson (C), Chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, listens during the third hearing by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol, in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill on June 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chen Mengtong/China News Service via Getty Images)

The Jan. 6 Select Committee is set to hold its fourth public hearing Tuesday, during which testimony is expected to focus on former President Donald Trump's pressure campaign on state officials to overturn President Joe Biden's lawful win in the weeks following the 2020 presidential election.

The hearing is expected to feature two panels of witnesses – Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling on panel one, and former Georgia election worker Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss on panel two.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., will be leading the hearing Tuesday.

Committee aides told Fox News the hearing will focus on the plot to pressure state officials to overturn valid election results, including how the Trump campaign drove a scheme to get "fake electors" transmitted to Washington, D.C., which set the stage for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The lawmakers will say President Trump was warned these false claims risked violence and undermining democracy. 

The hearing will feature Trump campaign officials and White House staff depositions, as well as state officials not on the in-person panels.

Read more: Jan. 6 Committee: Tuesday's hearing on Trump’s pressure campaign on state officials to change election outcome

Tuesday's hearing will feature two panels of witnesses.

The first panel will include Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State chief operating officer Gabriel Sterling

The second panel will include former Georgia election worker Ms. Wandrea Ar Shaye “Shaye” Moss.  

Raffensberger is expected to talk the about election and his investigation into the state's election integrity. He will also discuss how the election in Georgia was fair and conducted correctly. 

Shaye was specifically accused by Trump for carrying out voter fraud. She is expected to discuss how the accusation resulted in death threats and how it forced her and her mother into hiding.

Click here for previous coverage of the Jan. 6 committee hearings.