During the fourth hearing on the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, USA, several officials stated that they had been pressured by Donald Trump and his team after the presidential election. Especially in swing states, where Biden’s win was smallest, officials were pressured. One of them, Secretary of State for the State of Georgia, received a phone call from Trump asking for… “to find 11,780 voices”†
The Washington Post released audio clips last January in which Trump pressures Raffensperger to “find voices” in order to undo his loss in the state. Raffensperger said during the hearing that he had the votes recounted twice, but that they were correct. “The numbers are the numbers, the numbers don’t lie.”
In addition to Raffensperger, his colleague Gabriel Sterling, an official who oversaw the elections in Georgia, also spoke. He talked about how difficult it was to stand up to the ongoing allegations of voter fraud Trump sent out into the world. For example, he said he often felt that people did not believe the information his office was putting out because the president of the United States, “whom many looked up to and respected,” told them it was a lie.
In addition to the witnesses from Georgia, Russel Bowers, the Republican Speaker of the Arizona State Legislature, was also heard. He was a Trump supporter for the 2020 presidential election, but during the hearing he called it a “circus” he ended up in after the election. He also stated that he had been pressured by Trump and his associates, in particular by his lawyer Rudy Giuliani. He asked him to replace electoral votes. Bowers replied that he was asking him something “contrary to the oath I took.” When he asked about evidence of the electoral fraud, Giuliani replied that they had many theories, “but we just don’t have the evidence.”
Also read the report on the third hearing: Trump Threatened Vice President Pence on Jan. 6
ballot box staff
At the end of the hearing, two ballot box workers, Shaye Moss and her mother, also spoke. They served in Fulton County, Georgia during the 2020 election. They were falsely accused by Rudy Giuliani of committing voter fraud after the election. They were then threatened and received numerous racist messages on Facebook.
The whole situation had “turned her life upside down,” Moss said in an emotional testimony. “I don’t want anyone to know my name,” she said. “I don’t want to go anywhere with my mom because she could be screaming my name down the supermarket aisle or something. I don’t go to the supermarket at all. I’ve been nowhere at all. I have gained about 60 kilos. I just don’t do anything anymore. I don’t want to go anywhere.” Moss quit her job as an election officer.