Jan. 6 committee holds fourth hearing

The latest hearing before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection revealed new details Tuesday about how former President Donald Trump pressured state officials to help him overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The panel featured testimony from three Republican officials who were all on the receiving end of Trump's outreach after the election: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, his deputy Gabe Sterling and Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers.

Like previous hearings, these officials testified about their unwillingness to participate in legally dubious schemes that would undermine the election, including efforts to subvert the Electoral College with fake pro-Trump electors.

The panel's next hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on Thursday and will focus on Trump's attempt to use the Justice Department to back his election disinformation.

Here are some of the key takeaways from Tuesday's hearing: 

Republican witnesses tie Trump directly to fake electors effort

Multiple witnesses told the committee that Trump was personally involved in the effort to put forward slates of fake electors in key battleground states — a key part of the broader effort to overturn Biden's legitimate election victory.

CNN has previously reported on the role that key Trump allies, including his former attorney Rudy Giuliani, played in overseeing the effort but witnesses revealed new details Tuesday about how the former President himself was not only aware of the push, but seemingly endorsed it.

Bowers told the committee that he received a call from Trump and Giuliani during which they urged him to go along with a plan to put forward illegitimate, pro-Trump electors from the state.  

"I told them I did not want to be used as a pawn," Bowers said on Tuesday, recalling what he told Giuliani and Trump on the Nov. 22, 2020 phone call.

Committee reveals new details about how congressional Republicans helped Trump's efforts to overturn election

Tuesday's hearing featured new details about two congressional Republicans played a role in Trump's sprawling efforts to try to overturn his 2020 election loss. The first was Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, who called Bowers on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, asking him to support decertification of his state's electors for Biden. 

"I said I would not," Bowers testified on Tuesday.

The second occurred several hours later, minutes before then-Vice President Mike Pence gaveled in the joint session of Congress to certify the electoral votes. According to text messages obtained by the committee, an aide to GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin asked an aide to Pence how Johnson could hand-deliver him the fake slates of Trump electors from Michigan and Wisconsin, which had not been sent to the National Archives. Pence's aide responded that Johnson should "not give that to him."

Both the effort to decertify Biden electors and put forward fake Trump electors were part of the Trump team's scheme to stop the congressional certification of the election on Jan. 6. The role that Trump's allies in Congress played have been of interest of interest to the committee, which has subpoenaed five House GOP members, including Biggs and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Witnesses describe how Trump's lies had serious consequences — including threats

The committee's hearing underscored how the lies about the election spread by Trump and his team spiraled into multi-faceted disasters for the state officials forced to grapple with them.

All of the witnesses who appeared at Tuesday's hearing talked about the serious repercussions they faced as a result of the false claims that Trump and his team put forward. That included pressure to help in the effort to overturn the election, the repeated attempts to try to debunk the claims and the threats they faced from pro-Trump supporters for refusing to go along with Trump's efforts.

Bowers delivered emotional testimony about "disturbing" protests outside his home. He got emotional as he discussed the impact protests at this house had on his wife and his daughter, who was at home gravely ill at the time and was "upset by what was happening outside." He also read passages from his personal journal about friends who had turned on him.

Raffensperger described the attacks that his wife faced after the election, which he said he suspected was an attempt to pressure him to quit. Schiff cited Raffensperger's book, in which he wrote, "I felt then and still believe today that this was a threat."

Republican officials take the lead testifying against Trump

Yet again, the Democratic-run January 6 committee turned to Republican officials to make their case against Trump. In fact, the majority of the in-person witnesses so far have been Republicans.

Tuesday's hearing featured in-person testimony from three conservative Republicans who endorsed Trump in 2020. The committee also played deposition clips from two other GOP officials: Michigan State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler.

They all provided damning testimony against Trump, describing how he repeatedly tried to twist their arms and cajole them to overturn the results. They also described the threats and pressure they faced from Trump supporters who believed his election lies and protested outside their homes and offices and bombarded them with calls and text messages.

Top Arizona Republican refutes Trump in real-time

Bowers said under oath Tuesday that Trump lied about him in a press release that came out shortly before the hearing started, where Trump claimed Bowers told him in November 2020 that he believed the election was rigged.

In the statement, Trump attacked Bowers and described a call they had after the election, claiming, "during the conversation, he told me that the election was rigged and that I won Arizona." Trump added, "Bowers should hope there's not a tape of the conversation."

Under questioning from Schiff, Bowers confirmed that he "did have a conversation with the president, but that certainly isn't it."

Emotional testimony highlights victims of Trump's disinformation

Later in the day, the committee heard from Wandrea "Shaye" Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, who were election workers in Atlanta during the 2020 election. Trump, Giuliani and other GOP figures put them both at the center of their unhinged lies about massive voter fraud in Georgia.

Coverage of Trump's presidency often focused on his words and lies. But the emotional and deeply personal testimony from Moss and Freeman flipped the script and showed the human toll of Trump's lies.

They described in devastating terms how Trump's lies essentially destroyed their lives.

Moss said she felt "helpless" and stopped giving out her business card because "I don't want anyone knowing my name." Her mother said she gets "nervous when I have to give food orders" because someone who believes Trump's lies might recognize her name. She said she felt "homeless" while she lived in hiding for two months after the FBI told her she wasn't safe at home.

"I have lost my sense of security, all because of a group of people, starting with (Trump) and his ally Rudy Giuliani, decided to scapegoat me, and my daughter, Shaye, to push lies about how the election was stolen," Freeman said in a videotaped deposition, a clip of which was played during Tuesday's hearing.

Ivanka Trump, daughter and former senior White House adviser to President Donald Trump, said in an interview filmed in mid-December 2020 that her father should "continue to fight until every legal remedy is exhausted," according to a source familiar with the footage.

Ivanka Trump says in the interview clip, which was first reported by The New York Times, her father should do so because people were questioning "the sanctity of our elections," the source confirmed to CNN.

The video clip, which has not been viewed by CNN but its contents confirmed by a source familiar with it, was among the footage handed over to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack by British filmmaker Alex Holder — who acknowledged Tuesday that he has complied with a subpoena from panel.

Ivanka Trump told the committee during her closed door interview that she believed former Attorney General William Barr when he said there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, according to a clip from the deposition with the panel played for the first time during a previous public hearing. Unlike her interview with the filmmaker, however, Ivanka Trump's interview with the committee was under oath.

CNN has reached out to Ivanka Trump for comment.

Holder acknowledged earlier Tuesday that he had turned over footage that includes never-before-seen interviews with Trump, members of the Trump family and then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Holder, who was filming a documentary series surrounding the final six weeks of Trump's reelection campaign, wrote in a statement Tuesday that the interviews were filmed before and after the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

"As a British filmmaker, I 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 wrote. "We have dutifully handed over all the materials the Committee has asked for and we are fully cooperating."

Holder also said he will be deposed by the committee on Thursday. Politico first reported the committee's subpoena of Holder.

A select committee spokesperson declined to comment on the subpoena and footage he had turned over.

The Biden White House has not stood in the way of Pat Cipollone's testimony, a source familiar with the White House's thinking tells CNN tonight.

That is in line with President Biden's decision not to assert executive privilege over documents or testimony concerning the committee's investigation of the "extraordinary circumstances" surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, the source said.

Liz Cheney, the committee's vice chair, made clear at the end of Tuesday's hearing that the committee wants to hear from Cipollone, former President Trump's White House counsel who was present in the West Wing on Jan. 6, 2021. Cipollone sat for an informal interview in April.

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, made a public appeal for testimony from former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone at the end of Tuesday's hearing.

The request raises a new tension behind the scenes, where the House is still seeking testimony from one of the most significant advisers to former President Donald Trump in the last days of his White House.

Cheney noted that upcoming hearings will shed light on Cipollone and others in his office doing "what was right," as they tried to stop some Trump's movements leading up to Jan. 6, 2021. Others who sided with Cipollone and against Trump at crucial moments, including former top Justice Department officials, have already spoken with the committee and had clips of their depositions used in hearings so far.

Nearly every person in Trump's innermost circle in the White House, including his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, sat for questioning in the House. Cippoline has met informally with the committee, but clips of any closed-door interview with Cipollone have not been shown in any of the hearings so far.

CNN reported last week that Cipollone was not expected to appear. One other inner circle White House adviser, Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff, has refused to testify.

Testimony from Cipollone would be especially notable because his predecessor in the Trump White House, Donald McGahn, resisted testifying in a congressional probe about the Russia investigation for years. The Trump administration claimed the former White House counsel had absolute immunity — a position the Biden administration rolled back, leaving McGahn to testify about Trump to Congress last year. 

The Biden administration has not used broad claims of executive privilege to protect large amounts of testimony from the Jan. 6 committee, though Trump has repeatedly said he believes some of his conversations with top advisers should be kept confidential.

"Our committee is certain that Mr. Trump does not want Mr. Cipollone to testify here," Cheney said.

Cheney spoke to reporters in the hallway after Thursday's hearings, telling them that the committee will "continue to reach out" to Cipollone. 

Asked by CNN's Manu Raju if Tuesday's hearing showed any criminal behavior by Trump, Cheney said: "I think that you've seen throughout the hearings that we are putting forward very clearly a number of instances in which there are serious questions about the actions of the former President. We’ll continue to do so."

According to a person familiar with the matter, Cipollone has resisted providing public testimony, believing that he has sufficiently cooperated with the committee by sitting for a closed-door interview along with his deputy Pat Philbin,

The Biden White House cleared Cipollone and Philbin’s private interview after weeks of discussions that navigated the sensitive issues raised by having a White House counsel, one of the closest advisers to a president, sit down with the committee. 

Trump has not raised objections to Cipollone and Philbin talking to the committee despite claiming executive privilege claims over other testimony and documents, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN.

The prospect of having Cipollone appear at a public hearing harkens back to John Dean and the Nixon era, an uncomfortable prospect for Cipollone who has long sought to keep a low profile.

CNN's Manu Raju and Morgan Rimmer contributed reporting to this post.

A video produced by the House Select Committee detailed former President Donald Trump and his team’s efforts to sway election officials and intimidate election workers following President Biden’s 2020 election win.

Here's a look at some of the details the committee laid out:

The House select committee confirmed its next public hearing — scheduled on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET — will be about former President Donald Trump's attempt to use the Justice Department to back his election disinformation.

It will be the fifth hearing this month, and feature live testimony from Richard Donoghue, the former Deputy attorney general, committee chairman Bennie Thompson said.

Thompson said at the hearing on Tuesday, the committee is trying to show that the people Trump and his allies have pressured to overturn the election were roadblocks "for his attempt to cling to power."

More background: The hearing is poised to revisit the drama at the department the weekend before Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump tried to install the department's top energy lawyer, Jeffrey Clark, as attorney general because he was sympathetic to Trump's unfounded theories of voting fraud. Clark had proposed the DOJ could give Georgia support to convene a special session to investigate the election, well after federal investigators found no evidence of widespread election fraud.

At a Jan. 3, 2021, Oval Office meeting, Donoghue and others told Trump that resignations would cascade across the top tiers of the Justice Department if Clark were made attorney general.

CNN previously reported the committee was also planning to have testimony from then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and the Office of Legal Counsel head Steven Engel. They, along with Donoghue and others from the White House counsel's office, convinced Trump not to replace the department's leadership.

How to watch: The committee's next hearing on Thursday will be aired live on CNN and a livestream will be featured on CNN.com without requiring a login. CNN's special coverage of the hearing will stream live on the CNN app, and live coverage with updates will be on CNN.com and cnnespanol.cnn.com. 

The House committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, just wrapped up its fourth hearing of the month.

The panel heard live testimony from several Georgia election officials about former President Trump's efforts to try to pressure state officials to overturn the 2020 election, incorrectly claiming there was voter fraud.

The witnesses testified about the details of their conversations with the former President. They also said they experienced threats and harassment as a result of Trump's lies. Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his chief operating officer Gabe Sterling and former Fulton County, Georgia, election worker Wandrea "Shaye" Moss were on the panels.

Raffensperger emerged as a national figure in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Trump urged Georgia's chief elections officer to "find" enough votes to overturn the state's election results.

The Georgia Republican had already spoken privately with the Jan. 6 committee about his experience in addition to testifying before the special grand jury in the criminal probe into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the Peach State.

Here’s what the officials told the Jan. 6 committee:

Brad Raffensperger: Raffensperger said he and his team investigated "every single allegation" of election fraud from former President Trump — and they came up with nothing indicating any fraud whatsoever. 

He said in the face of threats and harassment to him and his family, he didn’t walk away because he knew his office had followed the law. “I think sometimes, moments require you to stand up and just take the shots,” he said. “We followed the law and we followed the Constitution, and at the end of the day, President Trump came up short.”

Raffensperger said the numbers don't lie, explaining to the committee how the ballots were checked three separate times, all with very close accuracy. "Every allegation we checked. We ran down the rabbit trail to make sure our numbers were accurate," he said.

Gabe Sterling: Sterling described the misinformation and threats that were being directed at workers in the days after the election. During testimony, he recalled the moment he "lost it" when he found out an election contractor working for Dominion Systems was receiving death threats "that had been posted by some QAnon supporters." After that, he started trying to combat misinformation at news conferences and said that he even argued with some family members about false claims of election fraud.

He said the job of the secretary of state's office is to continue to combat that feeling and "get the facts out, do our job, tell the truth, follow the Constitution, follow the law and defend the institutions... and the institutions held."

Wandrea "Shaye" Moss: Moss was accused by Trump and others of carrying out a fake ballot scheme in Fulton County, Georgia. She said she and her family received threats and Trump's lies turned her life "upside down." Moss told the committee about "hateful" and "racist" threats she received via Facebook.

“A lot of threats, wishing death upon me. Telling me that, you know, I'll be in jail with my mother and saying things like 'be glad it's 2020 and not 1920,'" Moss said, adding that she loved her job and loved helping voters with any questions they had.

The committee also played video of recorded testimony from Moss’ mother, Ruby Freeman. She said she lost her “name and her reputation,” adding that she left her home for about two months ahead of Jan. 6, 2021, after the FBI told her it wouldn’t be safe. Freeman said agents told her she needed to stay away until “at least the inauguration.” She also testified that even today there is "nowhere" she feels safe.

Read takeaways from today's hearing here.

The House Jan. 6 select committee's fourth hearing of the month just wrapped up. 

The panel focused on how former President Donald Trump and his allies pressured officials in key battleground states as they sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The committee's next hearing is scheduled on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.

A former Georgia election worker who was targeted by former President Trump said it has turned her life "upside down."

Wandrea "Shaye" Moss told the Jan. 6 House select committee she doesn't want anyone to know her name after Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani alleged she and her mother committed election fraud and passed a USB drive to each other in a video. Moss testified that her mother was handing her a ginger mint.

"I've gained about 60 pounds. I just don't do nothing anymore. I don't want to go anywhere. I second-guess everything that I do. It's affected my life in a major way, in every way — all because of lies. For me doing my job, same thing I've been doing forever," she continued.