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State testimony

The January 6 Select Committee has expanded its investigation to include state-level officials in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Pennsylvania’s 2020 secretary of state, Kathy Boockvar, reportedly spoke with the Committee. Boockvar fought back against unfounded election fraud claims from state Republicans in the months after the election, blaming them for the insurrection:

“The attack on our Capitol was the direct result of disinformation and lies — lies that were intentionally spread to subvert the free and fair election and undermine people’s faith in our democracy,” Boockvar said during [a Jan. 2021 hearing].

In December, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson provided a virtual interview with the Committee. Trump tried to overturn Biden’s win the state, inviting members of the state legislature to the White House shortly after the election to pressure them to change the election result.

Also in December, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger spoke to the Committee about “stolen election claims,” presumably including Trump’s Jan 2021 phone call asking him to “find” the votes necessary to overturn the election.

Thompson said that Raffensperger spoke about his efforts to defend the integrity of the state’s election system despite claims from Trump and his allies that the election had been stolen, which was based on falsehoods and misinformation that were all debunked when audits and recounts confirmed Biden’s win.

“In spite of the pressure from President Trump, Mark Meadows and others, he has steadfastly held to that position,” Thompson said.

The Committee is reportedly in possession of audio recordings of phone calls between Trump and other Georgia officials, as well as text messages from Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to Raffensperger staffers.

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Forged election documents

The Committee has obtained evidence that pro-Trump groups in seven states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—forged official certificates of ascertainment declaring Trump the winners of the states and their electors. These groups, like the one in Wisconsin led by Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt, selected alternate, bogus slates of electors in duplicate ceremonies.

Copies of the fake certificates can be found on here, released in response to a FOIA request from watchdog group American Oversight.

The forged documents attempt to replicate the real certificates (see Arizona’s here), but lack many of the officials features—an official seal (with the exception of Arizona) and the signatures of both the governor and secretary of state, for example. However, as you can see for yourself, the five states’ forgeries are remarkably similar. All are written in the same font, with the same formatting, and the same language.

Compare New Mexico’s forgery:

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, on the understanding that it might later be determined that we are the duly elected and qualified Electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America from the State of New Mexico, do hereby certify the following:

(A) That we convened and organized at the State Capitol, in Santa Fe, New Mexico at 12:00 noon on the 14th day of December, 2020, to perform the duties enjoined upon us;

(B) That being so assembled and duly organized, we proceeded to vote by ballot, and balloted first for President and then for Vice President, by distinct ballots; and

(C) That the following are two distinct lists, one, of all the votes for President; and the other, of all the votes for Vice President, so cast as aforesaid:

To Wisconsin’s:

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, being the duly elected and qualified Electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America from the State of Wisconsin, do hereby certify the following:

(A) That we convened and organized at the State Capitol, in the City of Madison, Wisconsin, at 12:00 noon on the 14th day of December, 2020, to perform the duties enjoined upon us;

(B) That being so assembled and duly organized, we proceeded to vote by ballot, and balloted first for President and then for Vice President, by distinct ballots; and

(C) That the following are two distinct lists, one, of all the votes for President; and the other, of all the votes for Vice President, so cast as aforesaid:

The resemblances are so extreme that we are only left to question what coordination existed between these Republican groups and who led the charge?

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Lawmaker testimony

The Select Committee issued requests for voluntary interviews from three lawmakers so far:

On December 20, 2021, the Committee asked Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) to provide a voluntary interview, writing (pdf):

We have received evidence from multiple witnesses that you had an important role in the efforts to install Mr. Clark as acting Attorney General…We are also aware that you had multiple text and other communications with President Trump’s former Chief of Staff regarding Mr. Clark—and we also have evidence indicating that in that time frame you sent communications to the former Chief of Staff using the encrypted Signal app.

On December 22, 2021, the Committee asked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to provide a voluntary interview (pdf):

We understand that you had at least one and possibly multiple communications with President Trump on January 6th. We would like to discuss each such communication with you in detail. And we also wish to inquire about any communications you had on January 5th or 6th with those in the Willard War Room, the Trump legal team, White House personnel or others involved in organizing or planning the actions and strategies for January 6th…

Public reporting suggests that you may also have information about meetings with White House officials and the then-President in November and December 2020, and early-January 2021, about strategies for overturning the results of the 2020 election.5 We would also like to ask you about any discussions involving the possibility of presidential pardons for individuals involved in any aspect of January 6th or the planning for January 6th.

Yesterday, the Committee sent a letter (pdf) to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), asking for his “volunatry cooperation” in its investigation. The letter reproduces McCarthy’s statements and interviews in the days after the insurrection, in which the Republican leader blamed Trump for the violent attack.

The Select Committee wishes to question you regarding communications you may have had with President Trump, President Trump’s legal team, Representative Jordan, and others at the time on that topic. Additionally, the Committee would like to question you regarding your communications with President Trump, White House staff, and others in the week after the January 6th attack, particularly regarding President Trump’s state of mind at that time.

McCarthy responded within hours, putting out a statement saying that “it is with neither regret nor satisfaction that I have concluded to not participate with this select committee’s abuse of power that stains this institution today and will harm it going forward.”

Both Jordan and Perry refused to comply with the Committee, despite the former declaring on multiple occasions that he has “nothing to hide.” The Committee responded:

“Mr. Jordan has previously said that he would cooperate with the committee’s investigation, but it now appears that the Trump team has persuaded him to try to hide the facts and circumstances of January 6th. The Select Committee will respond to this letter in more detail in the coming days and will consider appropriate next steps.”

A critical, but difficult, question now faces the panel: Do they issue subpoenas against fellow lawmakers? Such a move would be unprecedented and surely challenged in court.

Republican lawmakers would likely rely on the speech or debate clause of the Constitution—which has been interpreted to provide members of Congress with testimonial privileges as well as criminal and civil immunity for all legislative acts—as part of their legal defense to refuse congressional subpoenas. The text states that “for any Speech or Debate in either House,” Representatives and Senators “shall not be questioned in any other Place.”

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Other news

The Committee is reportedly planning on asking former Vice President Mike Pence to voluntarily provide testimony and evidence in the next few weeks.

In recent weeks, Mr. Pence is said by people familiar with his thinking to have grown increasingly disillusioned with the idea of voluntary cooperation. He has told aides that the committee has taken a sharp partisan turn by openly considering the potential for criminal referrals to the Justice Department about Mr. Trump and others…In recent weeks, Mr. Pence is said by people familiar with his thinking to have grown increasingly disillusioned with the idea of voluntary cooperation. He has told aides that the committee has taken a sharp partisan turn by openly considering the potential for criminal referrals to the Justice Department about Mr. Trump and others.

Relatedly, federal prosecutors are also looking at Trump’s role in the sparking the insurrection:

There are…some early indications that federal prosecutors working on charging the Capitol rioters are looking carefully at Mr. Trump’s pressure on Mr. Pence — and his efforts to rally his supporters to keep up that pressure even after Mr. Pence decided that he would not block certification of the Electoral College results.

In plea negotiations, federal prosecutors recently began asking defense lawyers for some of those charged in Jan. 6 cases whether their clients would admit in sworn statements that they stormed the Capitol believing that Mr. Trump wanted them to stop Mr. Pence from certifying the election. In theory, such statements could help connect the violence at the Capitol directly to Mr. Trump’s demands that Mr. Pence help him stave off his defeat.

Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany voluntarily met virtually with the Committee yesterday.

Another former White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, met with the Committee earlier this month. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told NBC that Grisham told the panel of “a number of names that I had not heard before” and “identified some lines of inquiry that had never occurred to me.”

She separately told CNN that Trump was “gleefully watching” the insurrection on the television, “hitting rewind” and “watching it again” (clip).