How Trump and his team pressured election officials and intimidated workers, according to the Jan. 6 committee
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Jan. 6 committee holds fourth hearing

By Adrienne Vogt, Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury, Melissa Macaya and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 11:34 p.m. ET, June 21, 2022
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4:08 p.m. ET, June 21, 2022

How Trump and his team pressured election officials and intimidated workers, according to the Jan. 6 committee

From CNN's Sam Woodward

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:

  • Protests outside officials' homes: In a video played by the committee, protesters stood outside the home of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson calling her a “tyrant and a felon,” as she was putting her child to sleep. She described to the committee, via audio recording, her fear for her family’s safety.
  • Personal phone numbers posted online: In late November 2020, Trump invited delegations from Michigan and Pennsylvania to the White House. After Michigan State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, a Republican, told Trump that he would not break the law to keep Trump in office, he said Trump posted Shirkey’s personal phone number for his millions of followers on Facebook, urging them to contact him and demand he decertify Michigan’s election results. Shirkey said he received "just shy of 4,000 text messages over the short period of time, calling to take action.”
  • Daily phone calls: Following his refusal to contest his state’s election results, Pennsylvania House Speaker Brian Cutler said he received daily phone calls from former Trump lawyer’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Lewis asking to discuss the election. Cutler said he asked his lawyers to tell the pair to stop calling, saying their efforts were inappropriate: they did not stop. One month later, long-time Trump ally Steve Bannon announced a protest against Cutler at his home and offices. Cutler said his then-15-year-old son was home alone when the first protest happened. He said that his personal information was leaked online and received so many calls to his home phone, that he had to disconnect it because messages were filling up so fast at all hours of the night. The select committee showed an anonymous voice mail Cutler received saying that the caller was outside his home.
  • Millions of dollars in ads: According to the committee, the Trump campaign spent millions of dollars on ads pushing election fraud claims and urging Americans to call their legislators and demand they inspect voting machines.
  • "20,000 emails and tens of thousands of voicemails and texts": Arizona Republican House Speaker Rusty Bowers described to the committee the harassment he and his family faced after refusing to decertify his state’s election results. Bowers said he and his team received “20,000 emails and tens of thousands of voicemails and texts.” At home, Bowers’ Saturdays were filled with protests by various groups disrupting the neighborhood with trucks playing videos claiming he was a pedophile and pervert. He recalled a confrontation between a protester with a gun who was vocally threatening his neighbor. Bowers detailed his family’s strength during this time, especially that of his wife and then “gravely-ill” daughter.
  • Death threats and a home break in: The committee played excerpts of a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call obtained by CNN between Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Trump where the former President urged Raffensperger to “find” votes to overturn the election. Raffensperger refused, claiming Georgia’s election results were accurate. Following this conversation, he said both he and his wife were doxed and received death threats, he told the committee. Additionally, he said his widowed daughter-in-law’s home was broken into while she was alone with her two young children.
  • "I’ve lost my name, I’ve lost my reputation, I’ve lost my sense of security": Former Fulton County, Georgia, election workers Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman were specifically targeted by Trump’s team to push false allegations of voter fraud. The pair worked the 2020 presidential election and were named 18 times by Trump in the call made to Raffensperger. In that call, Trump called Freeman a “professional vote scammer and a hustler." Moss detailed the harassment her grandmother faced as well, including a home invasion where people were looking for Moss and Freeman, claiming to be making a citizen’s arrest. In a video testimony to the committee, Freeman said, “I’ve lost my name, I’ve lost my reputation, I’ve lost my sense of security.” Prior to Jan. 6, the FBI advised Freeman to leave her home for safety — she was gone for two months.
4:20 p.m. ET, June 21, 2022

Department of Justice expected to be focus of next Jan. 6 committee hearing on Thursday 

From CNN's Katelyn Polantz

Thursday's hearing will feature live testimony from Richard Donoghue, the former deputy attorney general, committee chairman Bennie Thompson said.
Thursday's hearing will feature live testimony from Richard Donoghue, the former deputy attorney general, committee chairman Bennie Thompson said. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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."

"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.

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. 

3:58 p.m. ET, June 21, 2022

3 Georgia election officials testified about Trump's intimidation efforts. Here's what they told the committee.

From CNN staff

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, left, testifies next to Gabe Sterling, his chief operating officer, on Tuesday.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, left, testifies next to Gabe Sterling, his chief operating officer, on Tuesday. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

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.

3:41 p.m. ET, June 21, 2022

The hearing has ended 

From CNN staff

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.

3:43 p.m. ET, June 21, 2022

Former Georgia election worker testifies that her life was upended "all because of lies"

Wandrea "Shaye" Moss is comforted by her mother, Ruby Freeman, during Tuesday's hearing.
Wandrea "Shaye" Moss is comforted by her mother, Ruby Freeman, during Tuesday's hearing. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

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 no longer give out my business card. I don't transfer calls. I don't want anyone knowing my name. I don't want to go anywhere with my mom because she might yell my name out in the grocery aisle or something. I don't go to the grocery store at all; I haven't been anywhere at all," Moss said.  

"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.

3:47 p.m. ET, June 21, 2022

Former Georgia election worker: "I've lost my name, and I've lost my reputation"

Ruby Freeman's video testimony was played during the hearing on Tuesday.
Ruby Freeman's video testimony was played during the hearing on Tuesday. (January 6 Committee Interview)

Ruby Freeman, a former Fulton County, Georgia, election worker and mother of witness Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, expressed how profoundly her life has changed after Rudy Giuliani and former President Trump targeted her and her daughter with fraud allegations in video testimony.

Freeman told the House select committee that she lost her sense of self and security after being targeted by the former President.

"For my entire professional life, I was Lady Ruby. My community in Georgia, where I was born and lived my whole life, new me as Lady Ruby. I built my own business around that name, Ruby's Unique Treasures. A pop-up shop catering to ladies with unique fashions. I wore a shirt that proudly proclaimed that I was, and I am, Lady Ruby. Actually, I had that shirt on. I had that shirt in every color. I wore that shirt on election day, 2020. I have not worn it since and I will never wear it again," Freeman testified.

She continued, "Now, I won't even introduce myself by my name anymore. I get nervous when I bump into someone, I know in the grocery store who says my name. I'm worried about who is listening. I get nervous when I have to give my name for food orders. I'm always concerned of who is around me. I've lost my name, and I've lost my reputation. I've lost my sense of security all because a group of people starting with number 45 and his ally, Rudy Giuliani, decided to scapegoat me and my daughter, Shaye. To push their own lies about how the presidential election was stolen."

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff ended the witness statements with Freeman's own words of how being targeted by the President meant that she did not feel safe "nowhere."

"There is no where I feel safe. Nowhere. Do you know how it feels to have the President of the United States target you? The President of the United States is supposed to represent every American. Not to target one. But he targeted me, Lady Ruby, a small business owner, a mother, a proud American citizen, who stood up to help Fulton county run an election in the middle of the pandemic," Freeman said.
4:11 p.m. ET, June 21, 2022

Meadows wanted to send swag to Georgia auditors, committee official says

From CNN's David Shortell

Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff to President Donald Trump, wanted to send "a sh*tload of POTUS stuff," including autographed Make America Great Again hats and memorial coins, to election auditors in Georgia, Rep. Adam Schiff said Tuesday, citing evidence from a White House aide.

The revelation, in the fourth day of public testimony before the House Select Committee, came as lawmakers outlined the efforts by Meadows and Trump to interfere in the vote count in Georgia, which quickly became a focal point of the effort to overturn the election results.

White House staff intervened to make sure no Trump swag was ever sent to the Georgia investigators, according to Schiff. 

3:31 p.m. ET, June 21, 2022

Former Georgia election worker describes receiving threats after Trump targeted her

Former Georgia election worker Wandrea ArShaye Moss testifies on Tuesday.
Former Georgia election worker Wandrea ArShaye Moss testifies on Tuesday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, a former Georgia election worker, told the Jan. 6 House select 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.

Former President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani alleged that she and her mother were seen in a video passing a USB drive to each other. Moss said her mother was just giving her a ginger mint.

"I felt like it was my fault for putting my family in this situation," she said.

Moss also described to the committee how much she loved her job, in which she helped voters with any questions they had.

"I've always been told by my grandmother how important it is to vote and how people before me, a lot of people, older people in my family, did not have that right," she said.

"I liked being the one that, you know, if someone couldn't navigate my voter page or, you know, they want a new precinct card, they don't have a copy machine or a computer or all of that, I could put it in the mail for them. I was excited always about sending out all the absentee ballots for the elderly and disabled people. I even remember driving to a hospital to give someone her absentee application. That's what I loved the most," Moss said.

3:29 p.m. ET, June 21, 2022

Trump called RNC chairwoman about fake elector plan, she told Jan. 6 committee

From CNN's Katelyn Polantz, Holmes Lybrand and Pamela Brown

The taped deposition of Ronna Romney McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, was played on Tuesday.
The taped deposition of Ronna Romney McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, was played on Tuesday. (January 6 Committee Interview)

The head of the Republican Party testified to the House select committee that former President Donald Trump called her as part of an effort to use fake electors to support him. 

The new detail links Trump directly to efforts to put forward rogue, alternate slates of electors in states that he lost, even though his top lawyers in the White House and the campaign knew the approach wasn’t legally sound.

“Essentially, he turned the call over to Mr. [John] Eastman, who then proceeded to talk about the importance of the RNC helping the campaign gather these contingent electors," Ronna Romney McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, said in her taped deposition. "My understanding is the campaign did take the lead, and we just were helping them in that role.” 

She noted that the electors were being pulled together in case Trump legal challenges succeeded in blocking Biden wins.

The campaign wasn't entirely on board, however. 

Some of the top officials in the Trump campaign and White House believed the fake electors plan wasn't legal, and left the push to lawyers like Eastman and Rudy Giuliani who had swarmed after the election, the committee said.

In an interview with the committee, Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to the White House chief of staff, confirmed to the committee that lawyers with the White House counsel said the plot was not legally sound. She said former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani were involved in the meeting.

“Nevertheless,” Rep. Adam Schiff said, “the Trump campaign went forward with the scheme anyway.”

Two top campaign lawyers, Matt Morgan and Justin Clark, said in their taped depositions that they told Trump lawyers pushing the fake electors scheme they didn't want to take part.

"You just get after it. I'm out," Clark told the House, about a conversation he had with another lawyer who backed the fake electors plan, Kenneth Chesebro. "I don't think this is appropriate. This isn't the right thing to do."

Morgan described directing another campaign official to tell Chesebro: "This is your task. You are responsible for the Electoral College issues moving forward. This was my way of taking that responsibility to zero."

Before Tuesday, it wasn't known that Clark had spoken to the House select committee. 

A source familiar with Clark’s testimony says he testified “a while back” and that Trump is likely not pleased his former lead campaign attorney is shown saying essentially his campaign didn’t have a case to back up Trump’s lies.

Clark still works with Trump. Last year he directed witnesses the House had subpoenaed to preserve executive privilege, and he represented Trump in his unsuccessful appeal to try to stop the release of White House documents from the National Archives.