Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will testify publicly before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol at a hearing later this month, a source familiar with the planning confirmed to NBC News.
Raffensperger deputy Gabriel Sterling, the office’s chief operating officer and voting system implementation manager, will also appear, the source said.
The pair’s expected testimony was previously reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Politico. A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment on the planned testimony.
June 9, 202207:36
Raffensperger, who is a Republican, met privately with the committee for four hours in late November, where he testified about being pressured by then-President Donald Trump to change his election loss in Georgia to a win.
Those efforts included a remarkable hour-long phone call on Jan. 2, 2021, pressuring him to “find” 11,780 votes for him in the state to overturn Joe Biden’s victory there.
Raffensperger also testified behind closed doors earlier this month before a special grand jury hearing evidence in the Fulton County district attorney’s office’s investigation into possible 2020 election interference.
Sterling went viral in December 2020 for a fiery speech he gave calling for an end to the false election fraud claims that had led to the harassment of election officials, including death threats.
“It has to stop. Mr. President,” Sterling said then.
Dec. 1, 202004:46
Sterling, who is also a Republican, also routinely debunked Trump’s bogus claims of widespread fraud in the state.
Trump endorsed and campaigned for Raffensperger’s primary challenger Jody Hice in Georgia last month. Raffensperger defeated Hice by 17 points.
The committee will hold its first public hearing on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
