Georgia election officials expected to testify at an upcoming January 6 hearing
By Sara Murray, CNN
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his deputy Gabe Sterling, who were both subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, are expected to testify at a hearing later this month, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The committee’s public hearings — the first of which takes place Thursday at 8 p.m. ET — are set to spotlight the work of the committee’s 10-month investigation and reveal new details on how efforts to overturn the 2020 election culminated in an attack on the US Capitol. The slate of Georgia witnesses could offer a glimpse into the blowback state officials faced as they rebuffed attempts to overturn the election results.
Raffensperger’s profile grew after the 2020 election when he resisted former President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure him to “find” the votes necessary for Trump to win Georgia in an infamous January 2021 phone call.
The Georgia Republican has already spoken privately with the committee about his experience in addition to testifying before a special grand jury in a criminal probe into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the Peach State.
Raffensperger and Sterling’s plans to testify publicly before the January 6 committee were previously reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
As Trump refused to accept the outcome of the 2020 election and his allies pursued various schemes to try to upend the results, Raffensperger, Raffensperger’s wife, Tricia, and other Georgia officials faced a barrage of threats.
In December 2020, Sterling publicly pleaded for Trump to condemn the harassment that officials and election workers had been facing.
“Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence,” Sterling said at the time, addressing Trump. “Someone’s going to get hurt, someone’s going to get shot, someone’s going to get killed, and it’s not right.”
A month later, rioters stormed the US Capitol.
During the upcoming hearings, the January 6 panel will reveal new evidence that aides say will help “connect the dots” between Trump’s election lies, his attempts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win and the violence that unfolded on January 6, 2021.
This story has been updated with additional information Thursday.
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