Transcripts For CSPAN3 Hearing On Threats To Election Officials 20220924

The department will testify about the progress that has been made. Well also hear from the cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency which plays an instrument and dispensable role in securing our election. Well hear from Public Officials who have heard received Death Threats because of their efforts to protect voting. I want to play a video to put this in perspective. Donald trump launching an assault on the integrity of the election, policing a barrage of false claims of fraud and corruption without evidence. We were winning and then our numbers started miraculously getting whittled away. In secret, we have so much evidence and proof. Donald trump, jr. And other allies threatened to turn against allies who do not rust to the president s rate the president s defense. Is also having a detrimental effect on poll workers and everyday citizens. We have confirmed these are not suitcases but standard ballot containers. He ruined these womens lives. Described in a lawsuit how she left her home of 20 years hours before a mob of angry trump supporter surrounded her home. Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you . I felt like it was all my fault. Like if i would have never decided to be an election worker , people were lying and spreading rumors and lies in attacking my mother. Was disturbing as that is, it is one part of the trump fueled intimidation effort that has been waged against freeman and election workers like her. They had assault rifles. I cannot go anywhere without Police Officers. We had officers on the roof of our building and go bags ready for my family and children. In places like arizona. Are coming for you, you will find you. In wisconsin. We are going to hang you. In georgia. Do you hear the anger in my voice . We are going to find you. This has to stop. This is elections, the backbone of democracy and all of you who have not set a downward arc complicit in this a damn word or complicit in this. Somebody is going to get hurt, shot, killed. We have discussed the issue of violence in the past. Has been a consensus in this committee and i hope it continues in congress that there is no place in violence ever in our system of government on the right or the left. I want to tell the story of ruby freeman. Thanks to the january 6 committee, Many Americans know her story. The 62yearold grandmother in fulton county, georgia. She and her granddaughter and her daughter were two of hundreds who worked the election day. They found themselves at the center of the big lie when Rudy Giuliani promoted a viral video that he claimed showed misses freeman and misses moss counting illegal ballots. In reality, his claim was false. The only thing they were guilty of was performing their civic duty, diligently, faithfully, legally. The republicanled georgia sector States Office and the Georgia Bureau of investigation immediately refuted Rudy Giulianis live at the damage had already been done. For months, the former president s allies and the rightwing medial akron tinker right Media Echo Chamber immediately standard them. They received hundreds of threatening and racist phone calls. Mrs. Freeman was confronted at her home. Mrs. Moss left her job with the Legislation Department that she served for nearly a decade. Last week, Court Documents indicated that freeman and mosss names were written on a pad of paper written death list found in the home of a member of the oath keepers who is charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the january 6 attack. Ruby freeman and shaye moss are not alone. Election workers throughout the country of both Political Parties have been forced to take extraordinary steps to protect themselves and their families. Many of these election workers have spent their own money installing elaborate Home Security systems. Others, like one county in colorado, have begun to wear a bulletproof vest to work. Over the past several months, my office has heard from individual election workers who share their stories of violent threats. Many submitted statements for our hearing. These threats are taking a disastrous toll on our democracy. According to a recent survey, roughly one in five Election Officials plans to leave their job ahead of the next residential election. This mass exodus coincides with an ongoing, organized effort by big lie promoters to secure jobs and elections across our country. He saw this last night in a republican primary in arizona. Our democracy cannot survive if we allow harassment and intimidation of Election Officials to become the new norm. As we look ahead to this years election, fewer than 100 days away, i hope we learned election the lessons of the last election. The former president s plot to overturn the election read to it on america. He saw that here in the capitol on january 6, 2021. Public servants are living with the consequence of this big lie every of their lives. I look forward to hearing more about the steps the Justice Department is taking to protect Election Officials leading up to this election and i hope every member of this committee will join me in condemning the threats those officials continue to face. I turn to Ranking Member senator grassley for his opening. Thank you chairman durbin. Our hearing today is on threats against election workers, threats of violence are Never Acceptable. Any threats of violence. Violence is a very major problem in america today. With rates of Violent Crimes skyrocketing across the country, not since the 1990s have we seen these levels of murder, assault, carjacking, robbery, attacks on police, and other Violent Crimes. To start, the start of this Violent Crime wave began in 2020 as police nationwide were pushed off the street. The study from the council of criminal justice showed that murders in major cities in 2021 where 44 more than in 2019. So far, this year, major cities of baltimore, los angeles, philadelphia, washington, d. C. , atlanta, new york city or already worsted in 2021. The baseline is rising. Higher rates of Violent Crime are becoming the new norm. Some of the main causes of this rise in Violent Crime are antipolice rhetoric, deep policing efforts, progressing prosecution, defund the police movements. We talked about the crisis faced by Law Enforcement officers last week in this very committee. In our hearing about attacks on police. This crisis in policing is happening at the same time that progressing prosecutors refused to hold violent criminals accountable for their crimes. Witness after witness in this committee has told us that theyll reform helps to release violent criminals who then can go commit more crimes. We all heard about the horrible story that occurred in wisconsin where a man sure dust drove into a parade of people, killing six and wounding more. He was out on bail for Violent Crimes. He should never have been freed. But a progressive prosecutor and lax laws allowed him to get out and kill all those people. Research is clear that a huge amount of Violent Crime in any city is committed by a very small number of repeat offenders. Just think, if police and prosecutors can focus on those offenders, they can improve the situation very significantly. But because of difficult things at the state level in terms of understaffed Police Departments progressive prosecutors who turn a blind eye to Violent Crime and state legislators who often soften criminal laws and implement bill reform states do not seem to be solving this problem nor are they capable of doing this all alone. Federal reserve federal support is necessary. Congress must treat Violent Crime as a very top priority. For this reason, last week i introduced combating violent and dangerous crime acts. The bill contains commonsense proposals to reduce the spike in Violent Crime in the nation. Proposals that would expand federal prosecution options for offenses like murder, carjacking, bank robbery and assault on police. All of my fellow republicans on this committee have cosponsored this bill and i thank them for doing this. The department of justice should also be treating Violent Crime is a top priority. But that is not what we are seeing from this department of justice. In the summer of 2020 under the trump administration, the department of justice conducted operation legend which was targeted towards prosecuting violent criminals in places in america that had the worst rates of Violent Crime. This effort was a supplement to the overstretched state and local Law Enforcement and Court Systems which simply could not deal with the surge in Violent Crimes they were seeing. Whenever a question about Violent Crime comes up, the department of justice only wants to talk about gun control, not punishing criminals who commit Violent Crime. I wrote a letter to the department of justice on february 14, 2022 to ask the department to answer the misguided and politicized approach to Law Enforcement. Now we are here on the subject of this area that more than a year ago, the doj formed a task force on threats to election workers. It appears only four cases have been announced as a result of this task force effort. That is after more than a years work. There have been no charges of acts of violence against election workers. These prosecutions may be very worthy but the existence of a full doj tax for task force is confusing. Compared to operation legend which resulted in 15 prosecutions for Crimes Involving drugs, guns, and violence. All in less than six months. In light of garlands past focus on intimidating appearance who were concerned about school boards, i fear there is a political element to the decisions of focus on this area. This administration does not want to talk about the failed policies of democrat cities where crime is spiking. But a Law Enforcement agency like the department of justice should not be participating in those sorts of politics. The department of justice is the highest Law Enforcement agency in america. It must focus its priorities on challenges facing america today. That means addressing the Violent Crime. If we could only reduce the homicide numbers to where they were before the defund the police movement, we can save as many as 6000 lives per year. Because that is how much it has spiked in the last two years. Yet, there is no murder surge task force. No task force for combating the 20 year high in police killings, no carjacking task force and certainly no task force for the threats of arson against Crisis Pregnancy Centers in churches in the wake of the jobs decision. The department of justice is not choosing what to convene task forces on levels of violence. Where choosing a political message. I believe that well have a roll consequence on the safe the and lives of Many Americans. I yield. Thank you senator grassley. This Judiciary Committee has held hearings on Law Enforcement officer safety, mass shootings, msa terrorism, protecting children from gun violence, carjackings, hate crimes, inducing violence and violence against women and more, including people oversight hearings of Law Enforcement agencies. Have another oversight hearing tomorrow with the director of the fbi schedule. The subject of this hearing as threats to election workers. The first pen we welcome the assistant attorney general. The assistant attorney General Police is a longtime federal prosecutor who oversees the Justice Department Criminal Division between the threat task force. We also welcome ken wyman kim wyman. She is a republican who served from weird nearly a decade as a secretary of state so she knows this field very well. Welcome her. I will ask them both to be sworn in. Then, and where aunt of questioning from the senators, of to five minutes each and then our second panel will be recognized. If you would please stand. Do you swear on the testimony you are about to give before this committee is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . The record affirmed the witness answered in the affirmative. I will allow you to start. Make sure your microphone is on. Good morning trim durbin, Ranking Member grassley and members of the committee. Thank you for allowing me to appear before you today to discuss election threats. My name is kenneth polit. I am testifying today on behalf of the apartment. The department of justice is committed to addressing threats to the state and local Election Community. The courageous and dedicated men and women who are responsible for administering the most fundamental aspects of our democracy, our elections, should not face threats for merely doing their jobs. These victims often volunteers, our country and across the political spectrum. These are people we have sworn to protect. Through direct engagement with the elect committee, training of our separate federal, state, and local Law Enforcement agents, Grant Funding for enhanced Election Security, and federal criminal prosecution of electionrelated threats where appropriate. The department is working intently to prepare and protect our Election Officials and their staff is being approached the 2022 midterm elections. Last june, the department lost the Election Threat Task force to combat the sharp rise in reports of threats received by the Election Committee during and following the 2020 election cycle. Comprised of the divisions Public Integrity and computer crime and intellectual property sectors, the Civil Rights Division and voting and criminal rights sections in the counterterrorism sections and the fbis criminal investigative division, the department of Homeland Security, cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the u. S. Postal inspection service. The task force you next the four most nasty foremost sectors across the government the for emost sectors of government across the spectrum. We have engaged with the Election Committee to hear directly from Election Officials and workers regarding the types of threatening communications they received. The challenges such communications pose to such elected administrations and their greatest concerns and needs with respect combating physical threats. These conversations are critical positioning the task force to effectively address threats to the Election Community and to identify and respond to trends in this area. In response to the threat needs of the Election Community, the task force has shared information about the types of communication that Election Officials and workers have reported nationwide. The Legal Standards that apply, and how determinations are made on whether or not to open a criminal investigation, as well as, investigative steps undertaken in these matters. He task force has also provided detailed guidance through the Election Community on best practices for memorializing threats and reporting such communication to the fbi has encouraged broad reporting and has provided such Contact Information for each of the 56 fbi election crime coordinators and field offices throughout the country. The task force is committed to reviewing and assessing all reported threatening and harassing communications, directed at the Election Community, to identify where federal criminal prosecution is appropriate and permissible. Although the vast majority of communications directed of election workers, as sensible as they may be, will not constitute true threats from federal prosecution due to the robust protections afforded to political by the First Amendment, we are committed to following the facts and the law. Political considerations do not and should not play any role in any prosecutorial decision made by the department. Threats to the Election Community remain a National Public safety issue, requiring a National Response regardless of politics. The trauma experienced in this community is profound and unprecedented. The department is committed to investigating and prosecuting violations of federal law against those who administer and safeguard our electoral system. I want to assure you that our attention to ensuring the safety and security of those in the Election Community will not wane. Through these collective efforts, we hope to continue to mitigate and deter threats. We look forward to continuing this work as long as that threat persists. Thank you mr. Chairman, Ranking Member grassley and members of the committee for the opportunity to discuss the inner workings of this department. I will be pleased to respond to your questions. Kim wyman, senior Election Security advisor. Chairman durbin, ranking number grassley and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agencys. Free and Fair Elections are the cornerstone, oh gosh, i got six words in before the emotion of the video got me. I am sorry. Are the cornerstone of american democracy. Over the course of three decades, and had the opportunity to work at the state and local level and i strive to make sure the principal is of health. Prior to joining my organization, i spent 30 years in Washington State elections. I began in the early 1990s. My biggest fear was crying in front of the senate Judiciary Committee. When i was appointed Thurston County election director, and learned elections from the ground up. In 2001, i was appointed and elected as the Thurston County auditor allowed me to make policies that improved elections , administration, and Voter Registration. In 2012, i was elected as washington of state, the second woman to serve in that capacity. I served for a decade and i was able to leave in november to become a senior Election Security advisor at sessa. Overseeing over 150 elections as a future officer at the state and local level has enabled me to understand the role and responsibilities of Election Officials and witnessed firsthand the challenges that they face. This experience has prepared to help me Shape Services and resources to make them more impactful for Election Officials and voters across the country and make our democracy more resilient. My written statement provides more but i want to start by providing a basic overview of how we support the Election Community. Our mission is to ensure the security and resilience of the nations Critical Infrastructure. In january 2017, the department of Homeland Security designated election infrastructure is Critical Infrastructure which allowed the department of Homeland Security to prioritize focus. This is to ensure state and local Election Officials and their private sector partners have the necessary information and tools to successfully manage risk and build resiliency in the light the nations infrastructure. Our support to the Election Community is bolstered by our federal partners and the Intelligence Community and federal Law Enforcement and other agencies like the u. S. Officials commission and the u. S. Postal service. Collectively we have wrought incredible resorts to bear to support state and local Election Officials and take a whole of government approach to Election Security. As we approach the 20 midterms, we have identified five main priorities. Sisa remains committed to stirring information about threats and risks to local election infrastructure. Second, we are providing guidance, services, and expertise to help Election Officials secure Voter Registration information and information. We are read we are upping our often times we have difficulty making cybersecurity investments that are so critical to the election ecosystem. Fourth,cisa is expanding efforts aimed at building up influence against foreign campaigns that threaten security and seek to undermine public, confidence. In partnership with the department of justice and Law Enforcement community, we are expanding services and resources that keep Election Officials and voters safe. Our nocost services, and response coordination, training and exercise packages and broader information sharing, it is my hope that we can continue providing meaningful assistance to our state and local election partners to prepare them for these future election cycles. The Public Confidence in their election and the face they play in our Democratic Institutions rests upon the ability to conduct free and Fair Elections. At cisa ensuring the security of election infrastructure is the highest priority. We remain transparent and agile in our biggest efforts to address new and evolving rats. I think you for the opportunity to testify today and look forward to your questions. Am going to start with ms. Wyman. Lori on gino is the director of Washington State directors. Following the 2020 election, the email and home address of lori were published on a website called enemies of the people, along with a photo of her face in the crosshairs. The website amplified the former president s election claims and was subsequently linked to iran. I know she was your former colleague and im sorry she experienced these threats. How big a problem is docs thing doxxing . What is cisa doing to help Election Officials be guarded against this online. This is a problem and across the Election Committee. I apologize for getting emotional. It was unnerving, as you can tell, when my directors information was put out. That is part of why i joined cisa, to provide state and local Election Officials with resources. In terms of doxxing, we are working with the department of justice to get Election Officials to support infant incidences like getting their personal information on the internet and trying to build up resilience by getting Election Officials have plans and be mindful of what they have on the internet. It is hard enough to get people to work on election day isnt it . I found that with the Precinct Committee in 54. To sit there for 12 hours or longer and get paid a decent sum of money but not a huge reward for their effort. Now they have these kinds of threats against these people and even threats that endanger their lives, it has to be even more difficult to recruit people. Is it not . I am hearing from college across the country that they are having difficulty finding election workers, yes. Let us go back to your testimony. You talked about the number of cases being prosecuted. I was told five but senator grassley referred to four. He said how difficult it is to really make a case, even when we have evidence we described this morning. Some of dilemma we face here. People do not want to work supervising elections and follow the law if they are going to be harassed and intimidated. Do not want them to be harassed but it is happening so was retask for string about it . I and the department shares the concerns related to the Election Community that have been raised. And the video with mr. Freeman ms. Fruman in particular is a very powerful testimony. The number of cases we have right now is five. And the number is three at the state level. What i can tell you is the task force over the last year has been committed and conducted a review of every referral of a harassing and offensive communication that is received. That number is over 1000. As i mentioned in my opening comments, the overwhelming majority of those communications , although they are certainly harassing and disturbing, in many cases, the overwhelming authority of cases will not satisfy the Legal Standard that the First Amendment provides for approving a true threat. That is a serious threat of unlawful violence. What about doxxing . Is there anything you are considering that will protect people like the Washington State director of elections from this kind of harassment and intimidation online . Certainly. Again, part of this work on the task force is certainly leaning on enforcement as a tool but it cannot be the only tool we are utilizing. It is part of the reason we have lifted up potential Grant Funding for Election Community officials to provide security as necessary. Doxxing is certainly in avery an very serious issue. And of the task force was in addition to the assessment of criminal prosecution, it is also assessed for whether there is an imminent threat of physical violence. Before you go further, and i just have 15 seconds left, we may do a survey of Election Officials, most do know you exist. What kind of communication are you sending out that my alert the possibility you are there if needed . This has been an tremendous amount of outreach to the Election Committee. As recently as monday, i was on a video call with over 600 members of the Election Community. That is the third outreach i have done. The task force has been involved in outreach at conferences and state and local prosecutors and Law Enforcement. Members of the Election Community such as National Associations. I will be speaking at the National Officials annual conference at the end of this month. I will close my questioning by saying that senator grassley has raised an important question. Arent there more important things you can focus on . But if we lose the integrity of our election system that is so fundamental to our democracy, we have to look at the basics and that says protect your democracy and the people who are not making a fortune but are volunteering their time to make the Selection Process work. For them to be intimidated to the point where they would drop out of the picture or, god forbid, there are results that affect reality, that is fundamental to our democracy. I think you both. Im going to take off where the chairman left off. The point of view that i think is very important is that when we have violence against Election Officials, it is probably mostly tied to a lot of problems we have within our society, including what you heard most of my Opening Statement about the rise in crime and what we are doing about this. I have a big come along lead into my first question that i am going to summarize because you heard a lot of what i would be read now in my Opening Statement. In that Opening Statement, i referred to operational legend, project safe neighborhoods. Not one of the websites of the department of justice said, in regard to project safe neighborhoods that the fundamental of this work is not to increase the number of arrests or prosecutions but to end them themselves. I think we have seen what the change in philosophy of a prosecution and letting people out have done. It is very important to combat election violence but why is it not just as important as my first question, to create a task force dedicated to leveraging federal resources against historic murder rates . I welcome this question. Thank you very much for raising it. My decision to become a prosecutor in the first place was motivated to fight Violent Crime, like many of us, i have a family that has suffered the loss of a loved one due to Violent Crime. The father and brother are both Law Enforcement so a lot of the issues you are raising our very personal for me. We have a love prosecutorial priorities than the department of justice. Violent crime was at the very top. Today we are here to talk about one category of Violent Crime. When we talk about Violent Crime we are seeing in our streets and across our country, that remains at the top of the Department Priorities as well. Not as top as creating a task force there is for a crime against Election Officials evidently . Senator, respectfully, i would disagree. Have been a number of Strike Forces that have been established and announced by attorney general garland in some cities across his country that have reflected the highest rates of increases of Violent Crime that is in partnership with atf, focus on deterring and addressing Violent Crime being perpetrated by the most culpable individuals in those jurisdictions. Me follow where you just left off. Attorney general garland made statements to this committee, indicating that the department of justice has formed a task force on safety of federal prosecuting Law Enforcement agencies, judges, members of congress in march 2021. It is not mentioned in any public facing statement by the doj is neither my staff or the Congressional Research service has been able to confirm it exists. This is task force exist and will the department or will the department create a dedicated task force leveraging federal resources to combat the murder of Police Officers . If the task force does exist, where to be find that information . Senator, thank you for that question. I can certainly get more details to you related to the task worse off. What i can tell you is the impetus behind that task force of protecting our Law Enforcement personnel across this country remains a high priority for me, the division and the department. It is not limited to just the work of a particular task force but the work of the entire department and our u. S. Attorneys and Law Enforcement partners on a daytoday basis. So far the department has been unwilling to prosecute those who intimidate Supreme Court justices in their homes, even if the federal statute forbids this behavior. Lead change course and prosecute those who intimidate justices . Senator, again, and another example of a very high priority and another example of violence in our community dressed against anyone, regardless of their title or status means important to us. Just recently, the district of marylands attorney office, charged a victim dost a person who was involved in serious threatening conduct of the home of one of our Supreme Court justices. Our attorney general met with federal Law Enforcement and has in fact charge the u. S. Marshals providing additional security for all our Supreme Court justices. Can i ask one more question . More directly towards his hearing. What resources in terms of agencies supporting the number of staff and funding have been directed to the elections right task force as a result of issues of scarce federal resources, how many individuals have been prosecuted for acts of physical violence against the an elected official . Thank you very much for the question. We have charged five cases as part of the task force. As to any ongoing investigations, i cannot, onto the existence. Did that involve criminal violence against the people . Those five cases all involved serious threats of unlawful violence. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. In my home state of california, and to i did not believe this but election workers across the county have reported increased threats to their safety and wellbeing. You have received threats that alluded to lynching or shooting of election workers and on election day, they discovered that a camera had been planted near the Election Office to monitor the movements of election workers traveling to and from the office, putting at risk important personal information like the type of car they drive and the license plate number. I would like to ask assistant attorney general beliefs, how has the Justice Department polite, how has the Justice Department and the Election Task force coordinated with states to protect officials in ongoing primary elections and the general election later this year . Thank you very much for the question. As you highlighted, coordination with our state and local partners is absolutely vital. Often times refill see communications for members of the public and members of the Election Committee first go not to federal officials but the state and local officials. Those they have worked with and have established relationships with. Our outreach to the state and local officials as a result has been quite robust and included training for a number of those individuals on how to best report as quickly as possible those communications up to our task force or they can be assessed for physical threats and potential prosecution. You are taking this seriously as a real concern and hopefully can keep us advised of your progress. Thank you. Thanks, chairman. Senator tillis . Thank you, mr. Chairman, and thank you both for being here. We several months ago convened a Bipartisan Working Group on things we needed to do on election laws. We have one on the electoral count act and another thats referred to as the enhanced Security Protection act, something i think is necessary to increase penalties for people. I think the task force reviewed about 1000 cases and there were about 100 above the threshold that you could potentially seek prosecution. Mr. Polite, do you think it is important for us to up the ante in terms of the penalties for people who are ultimately found guilty . Thank you, senator, and you are correct related to the statistics you cited earlier. I am familiar with some of the legislative proposals you referenced. I think any leverage that we can gain in current in terms of increasing the deterrent value is criticalle so i loo is critical so i look forward to work for value is critical so i look forward to working with you. I would appreciate any feedback. I will look into that. Ms. Wyman, thank you for being here and for your service. I do not necessarily think the challenges we have here know any ideology. I think there are people on both sides or at either end of the political spectrum. In your experience, would you agree with that . Generally, yes. I have been a victim of dr. Of doxxing and Death Threats. I have been the victim. This is unacceptable and for the election workers i think we have to do more, so what specifically is your group doing . Can you give me an idea of we have talked about the cases the doj and task force are looking at. Can you tell many tell me how many cases you have been called on to assist with election workers who have been victims of harassment . Im not aware. Ok. What sorts of resources are you able to provide . We have cybersecurity and physical protective Security Advisors throughout the country as part of cisa working with state and local officials to help them harden their cybersecurity defenses and help them focus on the physical security of their offices, polling locations, and valid storage facilities, so we are working to give them resources like physical security assessments. Advisors come on site, walk through an office and give them ideas of ways they can make it more secure. We have guidance documents, like Insider Threat guidance, and physical security checklists to help them proactively think of where the vulnerabilities might be and how to mitigate them. Thank you. Senator whitehouse . Thank you both for being here. Mr. Polite, we will hear testimony in the next panel from michigan secretary of state, that an unprecedented wave of continuous, unrelenting harassment and threats has and im quoting again that the threats are a direct extension of efforts to disperse false information about the security and accuracy of our elections. We will hear from the secretary of state of new mexico that conspiracy conspiracies about our Voting System have gripped a portion of the electorate and caused people to take action. We will hear from the executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association that these believes have manifested themselves as outright threats on lives. How does the doj see the linkage between lies about the recent election and violence and threats against election workers . Again, our focus is on serious threats of unlawful violence. We are sworn to protect our First Amendment rights of our communities and political speech is not our focus at all. It is when these threats constitute threats of violence that that becomes the work of the task force . Are false and fraudulent speech subject to legal consequences . They could potentially, senator, but the focus of the task force is on threats of unlawful violence. Indeed, a campaign of lies by the Tobacco Industry was put to an end by the doj in a civil proceeding years ago, was it not . I believe your recollection is correct, senator. That prosecution or civil case was successful . The doj won. That successful judgment was upheld by the district by the u. S. Court of appeals for the District Of Columbia and the u. S. Supreme court denied cert. There was nothing unconstitutional about the departments action against that campaign of lies, was there . I take your question to highlight the fact that there are a number of potential tools we should be bringing to bear to address these types of communications, the threats of unlawful violence in our communities. What if there were a plan . A plan to propagate a fraudulent lie for the purpose of inciting threats to the larger end of compromising americas Election Integrity . Would that pattern of facts be beyond the reach of the u. S. Department of justice . Senator, i cannot speak to the existence of any potential investigations. I am not asking you to. I am asking you a legal question, which is, if you had a plan that was designed to propagate a fraudulent lie that had the intention of inciting threats against Election Officials so as to interfere with the sanctity of american elections, as a matter of law, would that be beyond the reach of the department of justice . Senator, we would certainly take that type of allegation seriously. It is a hypothetical, but in that circumstance, we would follow the facts and law as appropriate. We draft laws here and this is the Judiciary Committee, so if theres a gap of some kind in american law that would prevent us from defending our elections in that way, our election workers that way, and defending against persistent and deliberate fraud, i would ask you to bring that to our attention. I certainly look forward to working with you on those proposals, including gaps in terms of resources related to providing security. Yeah. Because if theres a plan, it is a slightly different thing than if there is just random speech . A planned conspiracy would certainly be different from the substantive, underlying conduct. Thank you, senator white house. Senator blackburn . I think the chairman is right when he says theres no place for violence in our society, and that is a point that we can all agree on and should agree on that. Ms. Wyman, it sounds like that you all are putting a tremendous amount of your resources into helping to train, provide guidance, to do assessments for Election Commissions. Is that correct . Thats correct. And do you have a dollar amount on that line item . Im sorry . Dollar amount. On the total budget, i do not know. I can tell you the Elections Security Resilience Team i work with has a 13. 2 million budget. Ok. I would love to have the number. I can get that for you. With that local training, i think that would be interesting to see. Back in the 1980s, when my kids were little, i served on an Election Commission and i always found it insightful to be on my countys Election Commission. Mr. Polite, looking at these resources being put into Election Security, i would be interested to see what the Criminal Division is doing to help train Law Enforcement on how to deal with the violence with the violations we have seen against Supreme Court justices and what you are doing there. I found it interesting, with tracking general garlands task forces, that there does not seem to be one the deals with these groups that have gone after the justices at their homes, and that is a violation of federal law. And they should be held to account for that. But that does not seem to be on the priority list. And i also have not seen any kind of work from the Criminal Division that they are going after many of these groups that have chosen to attack Crisis Pregnancy Centers or churches and i think there have been 82 Violent Attacks against Crisis Pregnancy Centers and churches since roe v. Wade, that decision and the dobbs case. Am i missing something . Have you all stood one up and just have not made it public or is this not a priority . Senator, thank you for the question. The fact of the matter is it does not require a task force for these cases to be priorities for us. What i can tell you is, as i mentioned previously, one of our u. S. Attorneys offices in maryland charged someone with unlawful conduct at the home of one of our Supreme Court justices. I know our attorney general cares deeply about the security of us all, particularly those who are in public service, like herself like yourself and our Supreme Court justices. It is one reason he has leaned in with Law Enforcement. I heard you say that earlier. It is just we look at the task forces that are there. So then what we have to do is say why is the lack of attention on some of these recent attacks against justices, against Crisis Pregnancy Centers and churches, why is that not something that you all talk about as a priority for your division. It seems as if there is one set that you are prioritizing and another that you are saying is not of equal importance, and if you dont treat them equally, if youve got a task force for one but not another, than the perception is that these crimes against the churches and the Crisis Pregnancy Centers, that these are not important to you. We look at what is happening with drugs in our communities. Are you putting resources into training Law Enforcement about how to deal with these cartels . In tennessee, i was in seven different counties last week on friday. One of their main issues is that open southern border and the fenton the fentanyl making it to their streets, and the doj knows these cartels have set up hubs on u. S. Soil and they are running these drugs, they are running these gangs, they are running this sex trafficking thats abusing women and children, but they dont go after those. So i would just ask you to please take that equal treatment to give that equal treatment and recognition with what is happening to our justices, our life centers, churches, Crisis Pregnancy Centers, what is happening in our communities with the impact of drugs. That affects people every single day and it is equally important and deserves the attention of doj and the ag. Thank you. Could i briefly respond . Senator, again, all the types of matters you raise are high priorities, not just for our division but the civil rights and other divisions. Particularly in the issue on the issue of criminal activity in tennessee, i can tell you that one section has been active with all of the u. S. Attorneys offices in prosecuting and convicting very serious offenders that are members of organized crime organizations in your state. Senator hirono . Ms. Wyman, i agree with you that free and Fair Elections are the hallmark of american democracy, so i thank the chairman for focusing todays hearing on elections integrity. In fact, weve had primary elections in certain states and i note there are already some winners in the primaries who say if they dont win the general election it will be because the election has been rigged. That creates an environment that is totally not conducive to Election Integrity, not to mention what happened regarding the conspiracy on january 6, all of the information that the committee is bringing to light. Mr. Polite, this chart that i have, this is from you. Does this represent the 1000 or so referrals that have come to the doj relating to threats against election workers . Senator, thank you for the question. The table you have in front of you was produced in response to the request for Additional Data by the Election Community. It reflects some details related to the types of workers that had been targeted by some of these communications, be they state or local or vendors, and then the other table here reflects the mode in which those communications were actually transmitted. So it does not tell us what kinds of threats have been lodged or sent to these various kinds of workers . The types of threat . Im sorry, the number. Can you tell us what the number is of the kinds of threats . Yes, senator. This table does not reflect that. What i can share with you again is that we have received over 1000 referrals of harassing, offensive communications, and each and every one of those referrals has been reviewed by the task force for potential prosecution. We have thousands and thousands of election workers throughout our country. Yes, there has been a rise in all kinds of threats, verbal, emails, against our election workers, so that referral sounds like a very small number. What does it take for the doj to get a referral . Senator, the typical path for a referral is two different ways. One, weve had robust outreach to the community itself, providing to the community the Contact Information for both the fbi and the u. S. Attorneys offices in their respective jurisdictions, and individuals can make those referrals directly there . In addition, when they have directed those referrals to state or local Law Enforcement, we have outreach and have trained with those Law Enforcement partners that they should probably refer those communications to the fbi. The point i am making is, by the time these referrals get to the fbi or the doj, you pretty much have to it has to be pretty serious a threat, doesnt it . So does that not account for all the types of harassing phone calls, being accosted on the street, etc. , those kinds of incidents do not result in referrals to the fbi or the doj . I would think not. It is a fair point, senator. Like in any area of criminal investigation, underreporting is a concern, but we have encouraged the Election Community to come forward with any type of harassing or offensive communication regardless of what they evaluate it being. Very important for all states to have paper balance . We think it is a good security measure, yes. Thank you, chairman. Thank you, senator hirono. Senator lee . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for being here to answer our questions. Mr. Polite, you referenced the mounting threats to safety of Elections Officials and workers and use and used this as a justification for the creation of the task force. You said the vast majority of the complaints are not crimes because of the robust protections of the first commitment. This is the way our system operates. There are things people say that people may not like but are protected if they are just speaking words and those words do not amount to threats or other criminal conduct that may not be protected by the First Amendment. You also described the fact that it appears from your briefing that, since the inception of the task force, you have gotten about 1000 complaints. Thats correct. 1000 complaints. I understand it was just over 100 of those that were deemed worthy of investigation. Is that also correct . Thats also correct. Of those 100 out of 1000 of those 100 out of 1000, how many have been prosecuted by your office . Five. Of those 5, 1, i understand, the prosecution had begun previously or was outside the scope of the task force. I believe you may be referring to the michigan charge, which was the first charged by the department of justice. Correct. So you have five prosecuted out of 1000 complaints. What efforts are being made to ensure your investigations are not having an undue effect on the chilling of that First Amendment activity that protected by the First Amendment activity . We certainly embrace the scope of our First Amendment protections of political speech. That is why the work of this task force has been significant. It has involve reviewing each one of those communities to satisfy the very height bar the very high bar set by our courts. That makes sense. Of those prosecutions, how many involved actual acts of violence where contact was made, as opposed to threatening language . Of those five, senator, all involved serious threats of unlawful violence. Was there one that involved physical contact that someone had actually used contact, that someone actually used physical force, or threats . All involved threats. Of those prosecutions, how many of them could be brought under state law . I read through the briefings of each of those as you submitted in your written testimony. It appears to me each of those probably involve multiple violations of law. Some involved multiple violations of federal law. I imagine each of them might have amounted to a violation of state law. Is that fair to say . It is quite possible. It is not uncommon that there is conduct that could be prosecuted in multiple jurisdictions. So in going through this, it makes me wonder what exactly amounted to persistent threats that the department felt compelled to make a task force. Five worthy of prosecution. Especially, it appears on the face of it, each of those cases would not also have been cases would have also been prosecutable under state law, are probably the sorts of things that would have been prosecuted in the normal course of business at the federal level, so it makes me wonder whether the task force is necessary or necessary relative to other things. The concern is not that they are doing this task force. It is whether that could take away other priorities. Has the doj created a task force, for example, on unprovoked attacks on Police Officers . I think the fact that the Election Threats Task force exists, part of its fundamental role is coordination with state and local officials. A number of those cases have been charged by local jurisdictions as well. I do worry about that. Weve had 25 attacks on Law Enforcement officers. 133 ambush attacks on police relative to the previous year, in which 60 officers were shot in these attacks. As far as federal crimes against members of the judiciary, according to title 18 of the u. S. Code, federal law prohibits picketing or parading outside of a federal judges residence with the intent of impeding the administration of justice or intimidating the judge, juror, witness or court officer. So protesters outside the justices homes, since the may 2 leak of the draft opinion of the dobbs case, have not been shy about their intent to intimidate and otherwise influence Supreme Court justices, particularly those believed to be likely to join the draft majority opinion that was leak. To my knowledge, not a single charge has been brought. You mentioned United States v. Kennerley jones, which i agree is a disturbing case. Are you aware of similarly disgusting and more persistent attacks on Justice Kavanaughs wife and children and what about similar threats against Justice Barrett and her children, to say nothing of the fact that we had an assassination attempt on Justice Kavanaughs life . We should not have to have an assassination attempt to understand the gravity of these threats. But we have people who were openly publishing the addresses of these justices, in some cases apparently distributing information about their children , where they go to school, resulting in threats and attacks on them. I hope you are being fair. I would ask that you are looking out for how many of those cases are being investigated and prosecuted, and if you have a task force for this conduct, receiving 1000 complaints, 100 investigations resulting in five prosecutions, i would hope you would have a few to look at violations of 18 usc section 1507. Senator, the prioritization of threats against anyone, particularly those in public service, is vital. I can tell you our attorney general has announced Additional Resources from our marshall services. In addition, our u. S. Attorneys office has charged the defendant related to unlawful conduct. We dont operate purely through task forces in terms of the priorities of our division or department. Senator ossoff . Thank you. I want to begin by noting how weak and unpersuasive i find the arguments being offered today to muddy the waters or suggest that, for the federal government and department of justice, the protection of our electoral processes and workers is not absolutely at the core of our democracy and important work. The, mr. Chairman, has the ability to protect highlevel federal officials, go after organized crime and Violent Crime, and coordinate our electoral processes. I find it necessary having heard some of the commentary from our colleagues today to remind my colleagues of what happened in georgia, where, amidst Donald Trumps endless barrage of lies, some of them amplified by members of this body, as he sought to hold onto power by any means necessary, republican Election Officials in georgia were warning that it constituted a threat to the lives of election workers. The House Committee heard a couple weeks ago from two election workers about the threats of lynching they received for carrying out their jobs in this country. So i am astounded, mr. Chairman, that our colleagues on the senate Judiciary Committee, with the opportunity to hear from two senior officials about what they are doing to protect our election processes, are instead diminishing the threat or suggesting this is not an appropriate use of federal resources. With that said, i would like to ask you, mr. Polite, about what specific steps you are taking to ensure that the facilities and personnel who will be administering elections in georgia and other states across the country where theres been an elevated level of threat against election workers and facilities to ensure these midterms are carried out in a way that reflects the will of the American People is manifest no matter whether it favors one party or another at the ballot box. Thank you. I am mindful one of the cases for us relates to the conduct in georgia against defendant chad stark. I cited earlier some of the disturbing threats made by the defendant against a number of officials that span the spectrum in your state, including language such as that he threatened to put a bullet behind the ears of a number of these officials. What i can tell you is that the task force is taking this conduct seriously. Our outreach to the Election Officials community has been extensive, robust and ongoing and will continue to be amplified. I myself will be conducting additional outreach at the very end of this month. What we have lifted up to them our best practices related to threats they receive. In addition, we have lifted up Resources Available to them, be it burns act dollars or other dollars to protect him. I introduced the election worker and polling place protection act to strengthen the laws that protect facilities and personnel critical to free and Fair Elections in the United States. Can you comment on the importance of ensuring that not just those personnel who are working the polls, either on a staff or voluntary basis, but also the facilities and that includes, ms. Wyman, from your perspective, software, hardware and digital infrastructure, that the facilities are protected from threats of violence, hacking, and so on. Thank you. They are all significant priorities and im familiar with the proposed legislation. And, senator, thank you for the question. That is exactly what we are doing with Election Officials across the country, helping them with guidance and tools to not only secure their Cyber Infrastructure but have advisors come on site and walkthrough facilities to make sure they are secure, having set up response plans so they know how to respond if theres a threat of violence or something out of polling location or Election Office, and really just doing last mile products where we are targeting officials that are medium and small jurisdictions so they could have response plans at the desk of each staff member. We are working hard to prepare them for the coming elections. Thank you both. Senator blumenthal . Thanks, mr. Chairman. Your chart reflects the threats to election workers that come from social media. 26 here. The Brennan Center actually has reported 95 of Election Officials blame social Media Companies for allowing their platforms to peddle lies and conspiracy theories and threats. Some of these officials have said that this makes their job more dangerous. Let me thank you both for your excellent work and protecting those workers and to ask you how severe you regard the threat posed by this misinformation, disinformation, mall information on social media disinformation, mal information on social media. Social media platforms have been a significant method of communication, of transmitting these types of communications. It is why this task force as well as state and local Law Enforcement partners, it partners, it has included outreach to them. We need the assistance of those platforms frequently in detecting and reporting these Communications Going forward. Ms. Wyman . Yes. At cisa, we have a Risk Management based approach, so we try to first build resilience in the american public, trying to make them aware that malign actors use misinformation to undermine confidence in our elections and sow discord, so we try to illustrate how these are used against americans and work with state and local partners to give officials the way officials ways to mitigate that. Do you think social media is doing enough on its own to stop the misuse of its platform . We work with them to manage the risk and inform them of what we are seeing. Social Media Companies use their own rules and terms of service. Are they doing enough . I dont know that there will ever be enough we can do. I have been in this profession for 30 years and have never seen this level of feedback this far after an election targeting officials the way it has been since 2020, so im not sure theres enough anyone can do. Mr. Polite . I agree with my colleague. Transmitting these types of area threatening and disturbing communications to Law Enforcement as quickly as possible. Well, i know that you are reluctant to pass judgment on social Media Companies, but part of the encouragement they need is for officials to speak up and urge them to do more, and as you have observed, theres more they can and should do. They have the resources, access, knowledge, and power to do more, and the american public, including Law Enforcement officials like yourself, urging and demanding them to do more is i think part of the solution, so i would perhaps encourage you to be, and the department of justice to be more robust and what you are requesting of them. Thank you, senator, and again, we have had significant outreach, direct conversations with a number of those companies. My commitment to you is that that will continue to be a priority for the task force. Thank you. Thanks. Senator padilla . I want to begin by echoing some of the comments made by senator ossoff and the di sgust i feel towards some of our colleagues dismissing the threats today and also, to maximize the time and talents of the witnesses before us, i will proceed to questions. There are two areas i want to get to. The first is mr. Polite is for mr. Polite. In an era where Election Officials rightly fear they are in danger from election deniers, it is critical the government demonstrated stands ready to respond to the Election Communitys concerns, and that requires an appropriate allocation of resources. In california, theres more than one or two to make sure it is not just federal and state agencies coordinating but across federal and state agencies. My question to you is, and each of the state attorneys offices and fbi field offices in the country, is there someone specifically tasked with response to concerns about election threats . The individuals involved specifically assigned to this elections threat related work or are they taking this work in addition to other duties and responsibilities . It is often times i would say. These attorneys offices have additional these officials have additional collateral responsibilities within the office. Their focus is on crimes broadly defined, so they are members of this task force, by any related offense that may come forward and be referred to the u. S. Attorneys office for prosecution or litigation, those attorneys are often involved as well. Thank you. Ms. Wyman, good to see you again. U. S. Well. I previously served as californias secretary of state and therefore as californias chief elections officer and i, along with you, learned cisa was a critical partner in allowing us to achieve a successful election in california. More californians participating in 2020 than in any election previously. And they did so safely when they went to cast their ballot. That is where i hope this sort of collaboration between cisa and state and local elections partners is continuing to do. Im sure you you are now at the other side of the table. Can you describe, from this point of view, cisas level of engagement with state and local officials, including on the issue of addressing and responding to election threats, and if theres any barriers to collaboration that this committee and congress can help address . Thank you, senator. By the way, washington also had a very high turnout in 2020, the highest record turnout, not that we are competitive. Cisa is focusing on try to first and foremost make Election Officials at the state and local level aware of the work the doj is doing in this space and aware of the Services Available not only by our agency but other federal agencies. We are doing this by going out to conferences, working with our protective Service Advisors and cyberSecurity Advisors across the country, you know, in Fusion Centers often, and just trying to get the word out so that officials know not only to report immediate threats, because that is, as the senator earlier mentioned, part of the problem, reporting all of the threats that are out there, but also knowing that they can work with state and local or state and federal Law Enforcement partners to secure their elections system and people. If theres anything else this committee or congress can be can do to be of assistance, do not hesitate to ask, including Additional Resources. Thank you, senator padilla. Senator cruz . Thank you. Mr. Polite, i am concerned this department of justice is politicizing the enforcement of justice. You have discussed how there is a priority focused on elections and i recognize that there is a political focus on that, although you have told this committee that 1000 complaints produced five prosecutions, none of them involving violence, all involving threats. Serious threats of violence should be investigated and prosecuted. However, a week after the doms decision was leaked the Dobbs Decision was leaked, several Pregnancy Centers were vandalized. Janes revenge took credit for firebombings of Pregnancy Centers in madison, wisconsin, amherst, new york, buffalo, new york, and des moines, iowa and gresham, oregon. More recently, centers in North Carolina and in washington, d. C. , just 500 yards from where you are sitting now, were covered with paint, egged by radicals. There have been 85 attacks against prolife institutions. Despite these very real threats and Violent Attacks against Pregnancy Centers, doj instead on july 12 set up a special Reproductive Rights Task force, not to protect Pregnancy Centers, but instead advocate the political agenda of this administration of expanding unlimited abortion on demand. I have zero doubt that if prolife supporters were vandalizing and threatening abortion clinics across the country, the doj would have declared it a national emergency, but because of your politics and the politics of the agency work with have a to agree with the vandals, theres been no task force. There has been no priority. Why is that . Senator, respectfully, i believe we agreed that politics cannot and should not play any role in the investigative and prosecutorial decisions of the department of justice. We take very seriously any incidents of violence that occur within this country. I can tell you that those incidents that you are reflecting upon, if they are ultimately being considered by the department of justice, they will be taken pulled on a second. If they are being considered . You dont know . A number of these incidents are priorities and a focus not just of the Criminal Division but of the Civil Division and our Civil Rights Division. Is there a task force . It does not take a task force. Have any cases been brought . I cannot comment on the existence of any current or pending investigations at this time. You are commenting on the existence of when it meets the political priorities of the white house. Simultaneously, while violent terrorists are threatening Pregnancy Centers, we have had protesters at the homes of Supreme Court justices night after night. Now i believe protesting at someones home, where your spouse sleeps, where your children sleep, is inherently threatening. It is designed to be threatening and we know the rhetoric with the encouragement of democratic members of congress resulted in at least one deranged individual traveling to maryland to attempt to murder justice kavanaugh. As it happens, congress has addressed this issue. It has made it a crime to protest at the home of a Supreme Court justice. Wiley case is pending while a case is pending. Night after night, these protesters committed federal crimes on national television. Why has the doj refused to enforce 18 usc . The u. S. Attorneys office in maryland has prosecuted unlawful conduct at the home of one of our Supreme Court justices. One person . To date, there has been one prosecution. What about the hundreds of others . The law is clear. Why does the department of justice pick and choose which laws to enforce and why does it seem to exactly follow the pattern of the partisan preferences of the Biden White House . Again, senator, politics should not and does not play any role in our prosecutor our prosecutorial decisions. Why have they not been prosecuted under section 1507 . Does the department believe the law is unconstitutional . And if not, why are you refusing to enforce it . I disagree that we have chosen not to enforce it. There has been one prosecution out of hundreds. What about the rest . Senator, again, i cannot comment on the current status of potential investigations in this area. Was the prosecution you referenced a 15 hundred seven prosecution or Something Else . I do not believe it was under that statute. So you have not brought a single one. I believe the conduct itself was the focus of the prosecution. I think you need to follow the law. There are no further senators seeking questions. Political violence in furtherance of any causes unacceptable. I condemn all violence and threats of violence in the strongest possible terms regardless of whether it comes from the right or left, whether it targets election workers, judges, Law Enforcement officers or other Public Officials. Unfortunately, abortion providers and Reproductive Health care clinics have long been the target of violence, threats, harassment and intimidation. According to the fbi, actors motivated by antichoice beliefs have historically perpetuated the most lethal attacks and also commit the majority of nonviolent criminal violations when it comes to attacks involving reproductive rights. Assaults directed at abortion clinics, staff and patients increased 128 in 2021 compared to 2020 according to a report from the National Abortion federation. Beyond the surge of assaults outside clinics, the study documented a 600 increase in stalking, 600 60 increase in burglary, 54 increase in vandalism, an increase in hopes devices or suspicious in hopes devices or suspicious packages, and an increase in hate mail, harassing phone calls and Death Threats. We know the fbi is investigating attacks and threats of violence following the overturning of roe v. Wade and is working with local Law Enforcement. We need to take seriously all these threats and i might add that this committee has passed legislation, sent it to the floor, which would provide Additional Resources to protect all federal judges after a terrible incident occurred in new jersey. That has been on the floor for weeks at a time. It is being held up by one senator from the republican side. That is a fact. We are trying our best to commit resources to protect our judges. We need cooperation to achieve it. I will close by saying, as important as all these issues are, the nature and purpose of this hearing was to address the undermining of the integrity of americas election system. I happen to think that is fundamental too and goes to the heart of our constitutional form of government. I think the panel for your test i thank the panel for your testimony. I ask the staff to set up the second panel for their testimony as well. I am going to start reading the biographies of our members on the second panel so that we can keep moving this along, starting with jocelyn benson, michigans 43rd secretary of state, expert on election, civil rights and education law. Maggie oliver, new mexicos 25th secretary of state. Before her election, she served as a county clerk in new mexico. Amy cohen, executive director of the National Association of state election directors, a professional organization of officials who administer elections, matthew crane, president of the Colorado County Clerks Association, a republican, serving from 2013 to 2018 as the clerk and recorder for arapahoe county. Over to senator grassley to introduce his witnesses. Mike hearst served as District Attorney for the Southern District of mississippi. It was unanimously confirmed. Previously, he served as an assistant u. S. Attorney and director at the Mississippi Justice Institute and general counsel at the Mississippi Center for public policy. As u. S. Attorney, mr. Hearst increased prosecutions by 178 , launched project eject, project safe neighborhood, an initiative to reduce Violent Crime. Hes now a partner at phelps dunbar. The next witness is head of research for the Public Safety initiative at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of city journal. Hes written articles on criminal justice for many publications, the wall street journal, the atlantic, the new york post, the new york times, the washington post, the philadelphia inquirer. He had a publication that came out last week entitled criminal justice, what depolicing gets wrong and who it hurts most. Nathan johnson served as Deputy Commissioner of the Baltimore Police department from 2016 to 2018. Before that, he was a Police Officer in prince georges for 18 years, reaching the rank of major. He also served as assistant commander of the special Investigation Division and commander of the office of Legal Affairs and internal affairs division. Hes president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense fund. We thank you very much for your service and testifying today. If you all please rise to take the oath. Do you swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give before this committee is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god . The panel has answered in the affirmative so they are now permitted to speak. We start with ms. Benson. Thank you, chairperson durbin. Ranking member grassley, members of the committee. As michigans chief elections officer our responsibility was to ensure our elections are accessible safe, and the results are immaculate accurate reflection of the people. This is not a partisan role and despite it being an elected position it is not a political role, but it is a role that increasingly forces us to endure threats, harassment, false attacks on our character and integrity and sometimes even violence. I am here today because we need your help. We cannot have a secure democracy if we do not protect the security of the people who administer our elections, and right now we are facing an unprecedented wave of continuous and unrelenting harassment and threats. Enduring these threats creates constant strain and anxiety on our work. The status quo is unsustainable and unacceptable. I have experienced these threats firsthand. One night in december 2020i was about to put my sent to bed when dozens of individuals descended on our home. Growing in numbers over the course of one hour they set out side my front door, waking my neighbors, shutting obscenities and graphic threats into a bullhorn. To this day these images still haunt me. This was not the first nor was it the last time a group of people showed up at my home or threatened me or my staff or hundreds of other Election Officials in my state. There is an ever present feeling of anxiety and dread that permeates our daily lives and those of our families. Not long ago our son standing in my driveway picked up a stick, turned to me and said, do not worry mom, if the bad guys come again i will get them with this. He is six years old. Some of these incidents have been reported and drug media attention. Many do not. Someone received a voicemail filled with explicit language writing her family. A clerk wish showed photos of dead body with a message to imagine that body as her daughter. Other clerks beyond michigan have told countless stories, local officials from Political Parties of both sides entering threats to their family and staff. These threats are not limited to personal attacks. They also involve harassment and attempts to criminalize the basic work of local Election Officials. We are threatened with arrest for simply doing our jobs, for educating citizens about the right to vote, or we are inundated with burdensome or nonsensical and unnecessary demands for information. One in three Election Officials report feeling unsafe on a regular basis, and more than half feel for the safety of their colleagues in future elections, and this is why we need your help. I am grateful to group of your colleagues have reached bipartisan agreement on reforms to the electoral count act, but that is not enough. Imposing stronger penalties on those who would threaten or harm on anyone involved in Election Administration is an important step, as is extending protections for elected officials that is been considered or extended to federal judges. The bottom line is we need you to act, because many states like michigan are failing to do what is necessary to protect us. For months, local Election Officials and i have pleaded with mexican lawmakers to set aside money to protect us, even after threats of violence and sometimes death are levied at us and our families. Despite months of specific requests into Budget Surplus that they have failed to offer anything to protect us, so u. S. National leaders can do something to demonstrate that you are willing not just to protect all of us, to protect democracy. Like many of my colleagues i have spent my career defending and protecting the right to vote of every eligible citizen. That commitment has never wavered and it will not waiver now, but we need you to share that commitment with us. We need you to stand with us to pass new protections, additional protections now before it is too late. Thank you for your testimony. Mr. Hurst . Thank you, chairman, Ranking Member grassley, other members of this committee. I appreciate the opportunity to testify. As a former United States attorney as well as a federal line prosecutor from almost a decade before including a stint as the district Election Officer i hope to provide insights on the subject protecting our democracys frontline workers. From the outset let me say unequivocally that no one should be threatened, but if someone is threatened, Law Enforcement should respond appropriately, investigate such threats, and bring those to justice who have violated criminal law. That being said, as american citizens we must question whether our department of justice should be focusing this precious time and finite resources on threats against election workers when in my opinion there exists a much more dire and pressing crisis affecting the american public, and that is the rising Violent Crime surging throughout our country. Considering the department of justices task force was considered created just over a year ago to address threats of Election Officials has reduced five cases in over 1000 referrals, it has to be asked why this issue is such a priority for this department considering over the past two years in 2020, 2021 we have seen more than 6000 additional people were murdered in the United States when compared to 2019. There is hope. The department of justice has provided muchneeded leadership in the past in reducing Violent Crime and can do so again today. After decades of declining crime rates our nation began to see an uptick in Violent Crime in 2015. Attorney general Jeff Sessions and later attorney general william barr began implement policies to tackle Violent Crime had on, including a reinvigorated project safe neighborhoods program. Because of the leadership by doj and successful implementation of these and many other programs, the nation experienced three consecutive years from 2017 to 2019 of declining Violent Crime. Let me mention project safe neighborhoods, and initiative an initiative that regular Law Enforcement, Community Members and other stakeholders in order to identify, address and reduce Violent Crime in individual communities led by u. S. Attorneys offices throughout the nation. Shortly after being sworn in by launched in the city of jackson, mississippi and in utero initiative called eject. By focusing not just on prosecuting violet criminals but teaching prevention in our schools, conducting outreach in our communities and holding reentry fears to reduce recidivism among offenders, we began to make a real difference. In the first year it was implemented jackson experienced a 7 reduction in overall Violent Crime, which meant approximately 108 people did not become victims of Violent Crime that year. Sadly jackson has experienced a resurgence in a Violent Crime, becoming the murder capital of america in 2021 when it had 155 homicides, the highest murder rate per capita in the nation, more than three times higher than chicagos. Another effective strategy previously implemented by doj is operation legend mentioned by Ranking Member grassley. Lost in july 2020 in kansas city, missouri it temporarily reassigned and searched Law Enforcement officers into cities that were experiencing significant and worsening crime. In the First Six Months of its operation in over nine cities doj arrested more than 6000 violent criminals, including 500 murder suspects, seized more than 2600 firearms, confiscated kilograms of fentanyl, and heroin and cocaine. In the cities where it was implemented operation legend quickly and effectively reduced Violent Crime. Let me conclude by saying the most Important Role of government is to protect its citizens, and doj can once again lead in this arena. The Department Must reprioritize its goals, redirected resources to improve programs that reduce Violent Crime and save lives and expeditiously act in order to prevent the next person from becoming a victim of Violent Crime. Working with local and state Law Enforcement as well as other stakeholders doj can once again reduce Violent Crime and make a positive difference in the peoples lives in our communities. Good morning, chairman durbin , Ranking Member grassley and members of the committee. Thank you for organizing this hearing on how we can protect our nations Election Administrators. It is conducted at the state, local, and county levels by Civil Servants and volunteers who do their duty every day. This work is vital to how we elect our leaders and organize our way of life, but its legitimacy is being threatened. Elected administration might seem simple from the voters perspective. You register, fill out a ballot and that is it. Conducting elections is a complex, continual process with highly technical components that ensure accuracy and results in overall security. These technical aspects Like Software for vote tabulation, distribution of secure ballot drop boxes has become the foundation of false narratives that call into question the integrity of our entire democratic process. Our nations election workers have been caught in the crossfire and have themselves become the target of harassment and threats. Lies and misinformation about how american elections are run and about the people who run them have proliferated to an unprecedented degree since 2020. Among a significant portion of the country the continuous drumbeat of these lies has created an atmosphere of distrust in our elections and in our Election Officials. The wild conspiracy theories about our elections that begin with the big lie of 2020 are not true, and no one has ever produced a credible shred of evidence to support them, the consequences of these lies have realworld impact especially for those of us who are Election Officials. A recent poll of 600 Election Officials found that more than half were concerned about their colleagues safety with one increasing they know a colleague who has quit because of safety concerns. People who leave their government is corrupt and leaders not legitimate, threats and acts of intimidation have sadly begun to seem like acceptable responses. In new mexico the conspiracies about our voting and election systems have caused individuals to react on those theories. During the 2020 election cycle i was docked, my life was threatened and had to leave my home under state Police Protection. My offices utilize services for me and members of staff that prevent docs by scrubbing personal identifying information from the internet. Since 2020, my office has experienced social media trolling and calls that. Misinformation circulating nationwide. Most recently my office has experienced pointed and specific threats serious enough to be referred to Law Enforcement. In june, there were threatening phone calls and emails against me referred to the fbi for investigation. These threats came after my office began directly combating election misinformation to renew website and shortly after a nationally publicized situation in new mexico where the county commission motivated by the same misinformation we are seeing around the country initially refused to certify that the primary election results, almost causing a breakdown in the democratic process in our state. My office had to sue the commission and our state Supreme Court compel them just to perform their simple legal duty. Growing mistrust about our election system leads to either apathy or indignation, both of which are detrimental to our entire system of government. For the Election Officials and volunteer poll workers are volunteers depend on by fear threats and harassment because so much stress and uncertainty that they will simply give up the work. Promoters, i fear the flood of misinformation will compel them to lose trust in the system, and they will no longer participate in our democracy. Federal and state Law Enforcement agencies are taking these threats seriously and are diligently investigating them, and for that we are thankful. We must show the public at threats against Election Officials must be tolerated. Legal action is the last line of defense. He will not stop threats until the lies stop. The rhetoric gets ratcheted down and elected officials, Political Parties and others find better ways to come together and educate the public about the realities of how our elections are conducted in secured. The federal government can help election workers by dividing resources to be used in protection of Election Offices and personnel. Personal information protection like the kind my office is employing to protect myself and my office. Thank you again and i look forward to your questions. Thank you, ms. Oliver. Mr. Manuel . I would like to begin by thinking you will for the invitation to address this distinguished body. I will focus my testimony today on what i feel to be an incredibly important issue that warrants a robust federal response, the recent rise in serious Violent Crime. After peaking in the early 1990s, serious Violent Crimes like murder, aggravated assault and others climbed sharply. As i have written elsewhere, what has come to be known as the great crime decline represents one of the greatest achievements in urban american history. The decline transformed my home city of new york into one of the safest urban centers of the world. Any cities across the nation saw the same. Those gains seem to be at risk. In 2016, signs increase by 2. 8 and 7. 9 . Some analysts found that when controlling for the amount of time people actually spent outside the data in some cities revealed ones risk of being victimized actually went up in 2020 evening crime categories if overall decreases. Analyzing for traffic and Research Found that people in public spaces were percent to 30 more likely to be robbed or assaulted. In each of the cities and lessen that study, index offenses are up substantially through the first half of july. Some in the media have cautioned against making too much of recently elevated crime levels by highlighting that while Serious Violence did indeed spike in 2020 and remains elevated, tongues were much worse in the early 1990s. This is true on a National Level but not for Many American cities. Philadelphia, louisville, indianapolis, columbus, tucson, portland, albuquerque, baton rouge, rochester, fayetteville North Carolina, milwaukee, and memphis, tennessee all set homicide records in 2021. In 2020 the list includes cincinnati, jacksonville, cleveland, wichita, greensboro, lansing, colorado springs. St. Louis had a new record for homicide rate in 2020, shreveport, louisiana, baltimore, maryland, minneapolis, minnesota all came dangerously close to homicide records in 2020. Chicago, seattle, and fort worth, texas would have to go back 25 years to see homicide tallies comparable to what they were seeing then. As troubling as the statistic so far may sound National Rates mexican important reality we should consider when discussing the issue of serious Violent Crime, victimization is hyper concentrated geographically and demographically, which means that a very small size of a country is sparing the brunt of this social problem. In a given year someone in the range of 2 of u. S. Counties say see 50 of u. S. Murderers, while 60 of u. S. Counties do not see a single murder. While the National Homicide rate for 2018 was five per 100,000, the rate for the 10 most Dangerous Community areas in chicago was more than 60 per 100,000. In west oak park it was a staggering 131 in 100,000. In my city of new york fiber senate seat receive 50 of crime. This trend is referred to as the law of crime concentration and has been observed in cities around the world. Demographically a new york, a minimum of 95 of poaching victims are either black or hispanic every single year for which we have data going back until 2008. They do not make up anywhere near 95 of the population. In chicago in a recent study of gun violence by the university of Chicago Crime Lab found blacks constituted 80 of homicide victims despite constituting just 29 of the citys population, and when homicide spiked in 2028 share of white victims declined while the sheriff black and hispanic victims decreased. As concentrated as crime is, the perpetration of serious crime is even more concentrated. Study show around 1 of the population can commit as much as 60 of the Violent Crime. We live in a world with limited resources, and as such governments must be strategic deciding whether and how much of its resources to dedicate to a particular problem. I would like to suggest the problem of Violent Crime concentrated as it is in low income and minority communities in and around United States should be near the top of that list of the problems the u. S. Justice department should seek to control. Mr. Cohen mrs. Cohen. I appreciate being asked to participate in this important conversation. I am the executive director of national and state election rectors. We are a Nonprofit Association for the state and territorial officials whose primary responsibility is the administration of elections. Our members are in all 50 states and five u. S. Territories. In the other 10 states in d. C. Remember as Public Servants will receive laws and policies work with local elected officials. It does not issue best practices and we do not post positions on federal or state legislation or on federal or state election policy. In my written testimony i covered members experiences with rats and the Doj Task Force since its creation in 2021. I will focus on our experience with a Grant Program announced in 2022. We do not have a position on federal funding for Election Administration, but when discussing the challenges facing Election Officials we have to talk about funding. We have heard from members stress budgets cannot accommodate physical threats to both personnel and election materials. Presumably this is more acute at the local level. Most of our members were familiar with the program before the announcement earlier this year. Funding for each state and territory is determined by a set formula, and there was a different formula for different jurisdictions. The 2021 funding was not awarded to states and territories until the end of september 2021. Once each state or territory receives funds each of them determines how that funding will be allocated within the bounds of the program. Stakeholder groups must go to state specific application process and adjust state specific priorities. Some prefer tangible goods while others use them for staff costs. There are 56 different approaches to distributing these funds to stakeholders who include Law Enforcement, drug treatment programs and forensic labs among many others. What is common across all 50 sixes these applications are only limited these applications are open only for limited time. Individuals were eligible for the program and by the time they were briefed by grant administrators on february 8 many application windows were closing or are already close. There was not enough time to build the necessary relationships and complete applications. Earmarks for physical security was not actually available to us. Some elected officials will struggle to access fiscal 22 funds because of the timing and demands of the election calendar. To add insult to injury the grant administrators clarified that elected officials have always been eligible to access the funding. That is the geithner guidance issued but to get you did not at Election Officials to the stakeholder list. Clarified Election Officials had always been stakeholders. This was news to us. The federal Grant Program elected officials are most warmly with is to help america vote act funding. Individuals provide a highlevel budget during the application process but at the flexibility to modify the budget and direct funds within the bounds of the law issued by the Election Commission. This allows elected offices to address emerging issues that may not have been contemplated during the election process. The Program Offers no such flexibility to Election Offices. The only approved usage for funds is the usage described in the application. If you ask most Election Offices in december 2000 19 whether they would want a Law Enforcement presence at their office in november 2020 or they were concerned about docketing the answer would have been confusion. We are fighting the ghost of the last election, so it is impossible to predict where overtime might be necessary or whether other fiscal security needs might arrive. A few states have had success diverting funds from the fiscal 2021 funding or promises from perverted funding from the fiscal 21 grant. This is a positive development by helping others stakeholders return money is not a creditable or Sustainable Way to Fund Security efforts. While we appreciate the focus, the result of the increased attention has been an unfocused response with limited practical improvements. Members and staff are proud to help americans cast their ballots, but working in Election Administration over the last few years has been challenging. I have often said when a person takes a job with Law Enforcement, even if they are not a field agent, they know they could be called upon to put the life their life on the line. This people make a choice that could cost them their lives. Elected officials did not make that choice. Until recently this was not a field he went into thinking it could cost you your life. We need a whole of government response to ensure the safety of our community. Thank you for your testimony. Mr. Johnson. Thank you, chairman durbin, Ranking Member grassley for the opportunity to testify before this committee today. My name is jason johnson, the president of a Law Enforcement Legal Defense fund and it served as a Law Enforcement officer for more than two decades, including as Deputy Commissioner of the Baltimore Police department. There is a deadly issue facing the country, an epidemic of Violent Crime. Last year there were 23,000 murders, 87 by firearms. This alarming increase in violence is not due to an epidemic of gun trafficking nor proliferation of illegal firearms. The vast majority of the Violent Crimes involving firearms are by person illegally possessing an otherwise illegal gun. It is they who, not the what that is at the root of this epidemic. Gun offenders are the most likely to reoffend and especially likely to commit violence. Between 2016 and 2018 have a baltimores homicide suspects had been previously arrested for Violent Crime, and 43 for a gun crime. One third were on parole at the time of the killing. While police make such criminals are priority, they are not getting much jail time. In baltimore in 2016 a quarter of gun cases jars were later dropped. Those who were convicted received an average of 15 of the sentence they may have received. These Justice System failures have deadly consequences. On memorial day 2016 repeat Violent Offender open fire on a crowded holiday cookout, injuring five people. Warren at seven attempted murder charges dropped in 2010 and 2012 and was later convicted of Armed Robbery but only receive 10 months of incarceration. In 2015 he was caught illegally carrying a gun and dealing drugs. The charges were again dropped and he was free to commit a mass shooting. This june in maryland sheriff deputy attempted to apprehend a fugitive Austin Davidson who allegedly shot and killed deputy hilliard. He was convicted of Armed Robbery in 2019 but received a three year suspended sentence. She should not have been free to murder the deputy. If federal prosecutors had intervened and taken those criminals off the streets safe neighborhoods would provide funding between federal prosecutors and state and local Law Enforcement to tackle Violent Crime needs to be laser focused on apprehending and prosecuting high priority violent and firearm offenders. It is also vitally important to restore the morale of our Law Enforcement profession. Antipolice sentiment and policies have demoralized, debilitated and in some cases defunded Law Enforcement on a scale before never seen. Nearly every survey of Law Enforcement officers reveals a morale crisis where leaders of signal antagonism toward Law Enforcement, where defund the police have become the official policy, one out of 10 officer positions are currently vacant in austin, portland, seattle, and minneapolis. This is amplified by progressive prosecutors who prefer to prosecute Police Officers than criminals in many cases. Voters rejected her approach when she was defeated last months primary election. Many police are fleeing the profession. Results found a 14 increase in retirement from april 2020 10 april 2021. Efforts to defund and debilitate the police have demoralized them. Law enforcement activity limited amid growing antipolice sentiment just as homicide was spiking. Cities that cut Police Budgets saw the greatest declines in active policing and largest increase in murder. To stem the tide of violence Congress Must show Law Enforcement they have their back. Greater penalties for those who assault and kill Law Enforcement, or resources for crimefighting and aid in recruiting and retaining quality Police Officers are the key to winning the battle against Violent Crime. Policing is a noble profession with a powerful nation. America needs to empower Law Enforcement if we hope to tackle this wave of violence and restore Public Safety and trust. Mr. Crane . Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this important conversation. I am the executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association. I have worked in Election Administration for 22 years in colorado, including several years as a clerk in arapahoe county. I also work on Election Integrity issues nationally. Ive made this my lifes work. I am also a conservative republican. The Colorado County Clerks Association consists of six county clerks. Our counties range in size from 450,000 active orders to 700. Our aim is to focus on the education and professional development of our members and to advance mutually agreedupon policy goals such as accessible and secure elections. I want to begin by saying a topic we are discussing here today is not new in our nations history. Far too often when a candidate loses the election the candidate and their supporters cry foul and question the system when no actual proof of anything nefarious. In my 22 years of work on elections i have never seen anything that comes close to the reckless claims that have happened on this scale in a wellfunded and coordinated way it is happening today. In our current reality it seems facts no longer matter regardless of how much Accurate Information is presented. And now political bad actors have seen the financial and political value of spreading this dis and misinformation. It is only growing. One of the outcomes of this unprecedented tax on our election system is it is radicalizing people in the way we have not seen before. The deeply held belief among some that are elections are not secure nor accurate has manifested itself as harassment and outright threats on the lives of Election Administrators. As secretary benson and oliver said this includes threats against spouses and children as well. In a survey i conducted among our 64 county clerks in late 2021, about 25 reported fortifying their offices and with whether that was the addition of bulletproof glass, or security around Office Access doors are there enhancements. Many received input from the county sheriff who was also investigating threats against them. More clerks in my state would want to make further security enhancements but lacked the Financial Security to do so. These threats to election workers and the courts that oversee the work are falling the heaviest on republican clerks right now. Many if not all of them have seen an uptick in everything from concerning emails to actual physical threats. In one publicized case we have seen a county clerk taken in by the lies. In this case currently under indictment, a clerk violated her oath of office and provided internal images of reporting system to a number of outside entities. Contrary to the narrative of some this Security Breach has increased the threat to our election systems and as dramatically decreased the integrity of our elections. This breach has led to an increase in the intimidation, harassment and threats of other Election Officials in colorado, who unlike the mesa clerk, refused to evaluate violate the trust and the law. It is vitally important to remember a difficult county Clerks Office exists solely to serve the public and they do more than elections. Driver licensing activities, voting registration, all activities required direct contact with the public at open counters. While clerks are doing all they can to ensure their staff cities safe we cannot change the nature of the work they do for communities. We have committed ourselves to maintaining open operations colorado is considered one of the best examples of secure voting in the country. But ourselves and having found a balance between access so that all can exercise the right to vote and security so all contrasting outcomes of elections. Even in our exceptional state developed over decades by state and local elected officials by both Political Parties, we are feeling the impacts of the insistence on conspiracy over facts. This leads to two things i have to ask of you today. The first is that you take the federal funding currently available and make it easy for local elected officials to learn about and easier for them to receive. The Current System is not transparent about where funds are available, nor are the funds easy to apply for. These grants should be allocated directly to government officials , passing the funds to restate create additional delays or counties to access these funds. In colorado, regional staff have done an amazing job conducting security assessments of our festivities. These assessments and less physically stop security vulnerabilities and provide recommendations regarding how to mitigate those vulnerabilities. These assessments are invaluable in helping elected officials understand the security of the space. Most clerks have a report can never hope to implement because they lack the resources to pay for medications as well as resources to be constantly chasing and securing grants. The second request and perhaps the most important, we are here today because of a lie, and quite frankly we are here because of absence of leadership from elected officials at the federal level in the state level to step up and tell the truth and support elected officials. I urge you to stand with us and tell the truth and support what we do. This can be shown in many ways. Take a tour of an election physically, avoid amplifying unproven rhetoric. Our Constitutional Republic must rely on election process free from politics. A persons vote is a key pillar. When people lie about our election process is it negatively impacts Voter Participation as we saw in the 2021 Georgia Senate runoff elections. This betrays our ideals of Self Determination and an active and engaged citizenry. Americans throughout history have fought and died for our right to vote. We dishonor the memory when we allow misinformation to impact this process. If we do not stop fanning the flames of conspiracy for political gain, it will have implications that reach much further than the next election cycle and further than we can imagine. This issue does not belong to one political party. We have seen candidates were both major Political Parties to accept defeat, and that harms our voting institutions. I urge you to stand with the 8000 plus local and state Election Officials across the country who were telling the truth, honoring their oaths of office and running transparent elections. I would to close by thinking you for the time to have this important conversation today. Its right to the very heart of the democracy we have now and a decade from now. The decisions we make today will have real implications for our nation. Mr. Crane, thank you. Thank you for being here today, and thank you for what you just said. Because there might be people watching this hearing and wondering what the hell is going on. Why wont any republican talk about the issue that is the subject matter of this hearing . Why want to get into the reality of the threats the county clerks and Election Officials are facing across the United States, and the answer is very clear and simple and obvious. Because it means saying that the big lie is a lie. It means saying the stop the steal campaign has gotten out of hand. It means we have got to face the reality that there is one person who continues to inspire this violence and hatred against Election Officials across the United States, and they cannot do it politically. So they changed the subject. We have some great witnesses to do witnesses who have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Thank you. Great, Violent Crime is been the subject of 10 hearings. It is not the subject of this hearing. We are trying to get down to the bottom line here, what is happening to our election system . Why is ms. Vincents sixyearold son sending her driveway saying he will defend with a stick . What crime did you commit . Participate in election machinery. Administer an office for election. The stop the steal folks are out after you. It has change your life, as in it . That is what we wanted to talk about today. Ms. Oliver, you said it as well. You had to go into hiding for a period of time in late 2020 after your photo, home address and other personal information was published on the website entitled enemies of the people. Did you ever think that is what you were signing up for when you ran for secretary of state . No, mr. Chairman. No one should. Your testimony goes on for pages. It is well documented, it must reflect the fact that he went to georgetown. It makes a point, harassment has been around for a long time, but not at this level. This is a new level, right . Absolutely. Mr. Crane, that is the point where getting to. Thank you for what you do as a republican county clerk in colorado, and thank you all for what youre doing and the fact that my republican colleagues do not want to talk about this is troubling to me, because it is at the heart of our democracy. That is what this hearing is all about. They brought you into your for another reason, i know. I just want to make one point you made it effectively. Im always having to answer for Violent Crime in chicago. I have talked to the police, everything i can think of. Violent crime and particularly deadly crime is taking place in a lot of cities large and small. The towns of rockford as a worse crime within the city of chicago and in some respects to others sodas jackson, mississippi. Most enforcement is state and local. We could do a better job at the federal level, but everyone has to get on the same page. Thank you all for being here. I think this hearing gets to the heart of whether we will have an election process we can trust in america. Members have to step up on both sides and say the big lie is a lie, stop the steal has to stop. We have got to have a conversation at the highest levels of our government, democrats and republicans about an election system that we can trust. People have to come out of the shadows and start changing the subject. Senator grassley. I am not offended by anything you said about the direction we have taken on our side of the aisle or some of your colleagues that made reference to it as well, but i have been trying to make the point that when you have since the summer of 2020 a massive increase in crime that we have had in this country, all of the grime, and i have gone through those statistics. When people get the idea that you can just break any law, some of that is obviously going to carry over into our people treat other people whether it is Election Officials or anybody else. I know you do not accept that argument, but that is the point i am trying to make. Mr. Hurst, when you were a u. S. Attorney of the Southern District of mississippi, you had to deal with one of the highest Violent Crime rates in the country, particularly the city of jackson at the same time you were in the project Safe Neighborhood Initiative to help get many violent criminals off the streets. Now into the present department of justice the stated goal of the project is, quote, not to increase the number of arrests or prosecutions. Again, to emphasize the point i am trying to make, if you are going to tell people you will not arrest them for certain crimes, this just enhances everybodys freedom, i can get away with anything. How did cooperation through dedicated initiatives help to address Violent Crime in mississippi . Thank you, Ranking Member grassley. When the department of justice leads initiatives matters. Specifically with project eject under the project safe neighborhoods that are, when we started running the program we started hearing recordings in jail of inmates sitting the feds are in town, the feds are enforcing the law. It is a whole different ballgame , is what the criminals were saying when the federal government and federal lawenforcement got involved. With project eject we not only had atf participating, we had fbi, dea, local and state, we had everyone at the table. When doj steps up, leads, makes it a priority to go after intake Violent Crime had on, what we see is a reduction in Violent Crime. Criminals respond to accountability. Criminals respond to consequences, and right now we are not seeing a lot of consequences. Mr. Mangual, Research Indicates a large percentage of Violent Crime is committed by a few repeat offenders, so if you target them you might substantially reduce crime in. Crime rate . How much federal agencies use this knowledge to address Violent Crime. If you get Violent Crime down maybe we will have less crime against Election Officials. Thank you, senator. What it means for Law Enforcement is if the federal government can bring resources to bear it can help local agencies with the use of big data to identify who the highest risks are in their communities. There is research for an Educational Fund to stop gun violence which found in oakland 0. 1 percent was responsible for a majority of the citys homicides. When you can identify who those people are and take them off the street particularly through federal prosecution, you can get seriously large incapacitation benefits that spare the community of the offenses those individuals would have committed. Research shows that when policing is engaged in, it can produce very large gains in the form of Violent Crime reduction. Mr. Johnson, what difference would it make more baltimore specifically to target repeat offenders and keep them locked up . Senator, we understand, and you said yourself, the majority of Violent Crime is committed by a relatively small number of people. If we can bring to bear technology and technical assistance, resources of the federal government to identify who those individuals are, bring manpower resources to apprehend those people and seek accountability through the federal courts, we can effectively remove them from the street to incapacitate them so they are not committing any more acts of violence. In state court as of now in cities like baltimore, violent criminal defendants and individuals illegally carrying firearms, many cases are being dropped, and even those that are convicted are serving small fractions of their sentence. Senator whitehouse . Thank you, chairman. Those of you who have Election Integrity responsibilities, in your testimony they have made the case that there is a link between the large and fraudulent scheme to spread lies about the election and the threats and harassment that you and your colleagues have experienced. I think that is an important point you made. I want to highlight it and thank you for it. This appears to be happening not just at random. There seems to be Organizational Support for this, and i will bring up a group called the conservative Partnership Institute that has been described as a dark money maga hub and date fullservice shop for protrump republicans, and this group is part of a network of at this point it has been determined 11 other groups that all our highly closely associated with one another, sharing addresses, staff, on each others incorporation papers, and it involves a lot of the refugees from the trump election insurrection effort. You have Jeffrey Clark at one of these groups. Hard for me to see it, the center for preserving america, and as we all know his role was bad enough the fbi did a raid at his home to see his to seize his electronics. On its way out the Trump Defense Department White the phones of individuals who might have been texting about the january 6 insurrection effort. Mark meadows, who participated in deep pressuring of georgia officials and has now ceased cooperated with the january 6 panel. Stephen miller, who likely wrote president trumps speech on january 6 inciting the mob to go to the capitol and attack their nations capitol. And a leader who was on the phone with trump to the call where trump pressured the georgia secretary of state to find the right number of votes to flip the election. The coordination is pretty obvious. So this is not happening in a vacuum. In fact, it is not even happening, it is being done, and the sooner we can draw attention to those who are doing it and why it is being done, the better. This is a giant pea and shell game with a dozen shells that can be pushed out to engage with the media or engage politically, but all commonly controlled, all with funders who are kept secret and all with murky relationships with one another and with the efforts to lead an insurrection against the popular vote in the last election, and where it comes to bear in this year and is particularly with respect to Cleta Mitchell and her Election Integrity network, because if what we are seeing is a deliberate strategy of fraudulent lying designed to whip up ernest and sincere antagonism. By the way if you are an american and you think your american democracy has been stolen, that is something to get mad about. That is the light you are propagating. You have a vulnerable population of people who do not want to believe that would be happened and it would make them angry. Then you turn them loose on the Election Officials, and guess what . If you can drive Election Officials out of their job, drive election volunteers away from the polls, you then have vacancies. Vacancies Cleta Mitchell is straining to fill right now training to fill right now to pursue the interference with american elections after january 6 riots kicked off. There is nothing about this, mr. Chairman, that is random, and i hope there will be investigations that are done either civilly or otherwise to connect these obvious dots. That there is a fraudulent lie, that it is delivered be propagated, the propagation is intended to cause harassment and threats to Election Officials, which in turn is designed to create vacancies in legitimate Election Officials ranks which can be filled with election denier cohorts. I see a lot of heads nodding as ive been going through this. I apologize for not being able to ask a question, what we have a thing called a question for the record, so i invite the officials who have knowledge of this to respond to this in whatever way you please, and we will make your answers to the questions for the record a part of the proceeding. Thank you, senator whitehouse. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I listened to mike republican colleagues questioned the first panel, and they are attempting to minimize real attacks on the integrity of our elections, and the threats to election workers causing trouble with thousands of them to say, forget it, i am not volunteering. That is what it is, volunteering to be an elected worker and to these kinds of attacks. The republicans have weaponized the position of election workers by supporting the extent to which of these officials are elected, by supporting Election Officials who believe in the big lie and other conspiracy theories. Let us not forget it is the big lie that led to a violent insurrection on january 6, which by the way he not happen spontaneously. We can see by the work of the house january 6 committee that the planning for this insurrection had been going on for quite a while. We have the violent insurrection of january 6 with the big lie and the former president compelling them, and then we have dozens of Voter Suppression bills, laws that have been enacted by republican legislatures all across the country, and the fact that congress has not been able to pass the john lewis Voting Rights act or do other things that will actually protect the integrity of our elections. And we have a Supreme Court lets not forget, a Supreme Court that has made it even tougher to enable the department of justice to prosecute some of these more obvious Voter Suppression loss under what is left of the Voting Rights act, because this Supreme Court has basically created even more ways that these Voter Suppression loss can be held constitutional. We are in an environment where, yes, our democracy is at stake, and here we are focusing on Election Integrity and we are listening to our colleagues talk about how important it is to go after Violent Crime. Yes it is, how about going after the massive gun violence in our country . How about focusing on some of that . We are not. In the meantime i want to thank all of you who have testified today who are elected workers, the secretary of new mexico in michigan. When i was the Lieutenant Governor of the state of hawaii we did not have a secretary of state. The Lieutenant Governor at that position. One of the first things i did, i believe elections should be run in a totally nonpartisan way, one of the first things i did as Lieutenant Governor to eliminate the office from Lieutenant Governor, we created an office of elections. Removing the election function after every election the lieutenant government would be sued. The suits never got anywhere, but because it was done by an elected person, there were those that thought the outcomes could be challenged, being tainted by political considerations. So, i commend all of you for putting yourself forward. I would like to ask the secretary benson, why did you decide to become secretary of state, as michigans chief Election Officer with everything that is going on around elections . Thank you for that question, senator. I am here today wearing a bracelet. I wear it with me all the time, to remind me of the sacrifices made, so that we could live in a democracy where the one person, one vote promised in our constitution is a reality for everyone. I started my career in alabama to investigate hate groups and crimes of the country and came to the conclusion that the only way we can ensure that every voice is heard in our countries to have a democracy that is led by people who are dedicated to making that thomas true for everyone. State secretary of states live that everywhere. We are guardians of the democratic process, we make decisions daily that are geared towards increasing the security of our process and the accessibility of it. That is why i wanted this job. You will find my stories not that different from my colleague in new mexico, who similarly was an election administrator who wanted to do her job to make sure elections are safe for all. And the tens of thousands election workers around the country can share that story. I am proud to stand among these individuals, many on the local level, who face threats without security detail but who are the true heroes of our democracy. I commend the secretary of the elections new mexico. I am out of time, thank you. Thank you. Senator padilla has been going back and forth between our two hearings. He can go first. Senator padilla. Thank you, mr. Chair. This was the continuation of the rules Committee Hearing happening today as well. For six years, this committee is heard me say time and again, i had the honor of serving as california secretary of state. At that time we were able to drive the success of three elections including in 2020 where we ensured more californians participated in the electoral process than they ever have before. Record registration, record turnout, smooth, safe, accessible elections. That work would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of, not just states elections, professionals involved here, but so many at the local level, as well, successful elections only happen because of the dedicated, hardworking patriotic staff that are willing to go above and beyond to ensure that americans could participate in the political process. But as the testimony here has so credibly highlighted. Our election workers face extraordinary threats and harassment, just for doing the most basic, a central work essential work of our democracy, helping people cast their ballot. I am grateful that they continue to show work, despite the additional hardships. I am concerned that unless we address the concern had on the problem headon, not ignore it or sweep it under the rug, unless we address it head on, fewer people will choose to serve as election workers. So, my first question is for the two secretaries of state, my former colleagues. Can you expand on how the work of our election workers is so extraordinarily important to our democratic process and how the recent rise in threats as affecting recruitment and retention of workers . Thank you, senator padilla. My former colleague and friend we appreciate the question. I dont think folks realize how much goes into planning and executing an election. And how many individuals what i like to emphasizes the fact that we have a citizen run democracy in the u. S. Although, this is my profession and my colleagues profession, the people on the ground, on election day, during early voting, checking off and processing absentee ballots, those are volunteers. Those are friends and family of both Political Parties, of all and no Political Parties, from around and in our communities. These are the individuals who come back here year after year who believe it is their civic duty, without them we do not have a democracy. We will not have the democratic process. To the poinsettia been made today, so eloquently by my colleague the points that have been made today, so eloquently by my colleagues, we are on the verge of not having that process because we will not have enough committed individuals if these threats and the big lie that is riving will continue them. I will add to that. The other side of this. In michigan we held the primary election yesterday. I went around and thanked election workers about the day. What i saw was another piece of the story, which is at the same time were all of these threats are real and the loss of so much institutional history is real. We are seeing a number of individuals, republicans, democrats and independents, citizen standing up and saying i want to serve. We are seeing individuals, 6000 in michigan signed up to serve as new election workers. So, i have a lot of hope that through this moment, as citizens observe these challenges and seek out the truth and step up with us to serve and protect our democracy, we can emerge from this moment with a stronger, more robust marker see them before. That will be determined by the citizens of our country, who will determine whether to stand with us during this moment and further the truth of democracy or not. To be clear, theres a problem i laid out, a danger of threat. Does it hurt democratic voters . Republican voters . All voters . Senator, the recent situation in new mexico, not only did the big lie push the county commission in that county so far as to actually take an initial vote to not certify the election process, it would have disenfranchised 73 voters in that county, the vast majority of whom are republicans. All the candidates with may 2 exceptions on the ballot that would have been qualified for the election wouldve been republican. We are fighting to save the vote for every voter. I appreciate that. Mr. Chair, one more question that ties the discussion in the rules committee and the need to reform the electoral vote act to this topic in Judiciary Committee. Discussing the increasing threats election workers face, simply for doing their jobs, i think it is important we understand why we are facing these threats. Because, to this day, nearly two full years after the november 2020 election, people who should know better continue to spread lies and disinformation about the election. They continue to claim, without any shred of evidence, that there was massive fraud and irregularities in the ballot counts. There wasnt. The continue to refute to acknowledge that joe biden won the 2020 election. He did. These lies are not just innocuous political read it frederick, their statements frederick, they are rhetoric, they put real people from election workers, to cabinets for office in harms way. Im not even talking about the deadly insurrection that took place in the nations capital. My my final question, secretary benson, can you walk the committee through the length of the big lie and increase of election threat since we have seen since the 2020 election . After recognize that, while we have talked a lot about challenges and threats facing Election Officials, there is a nuance here that is important, that those attacking us are motivated by lies and misinformation that they have been told by people they trust. There are members of the u. S. Senate, some of whom on this committee, who knowingly spread falsehoods about the security of the elections with zero evidence. Today, i hope they hear me when i say that in doing so they are hurting us. They are hurting our democracy. We are professional Election Administrators. We work every day to ensure that every voter, regardless of where they live or who they vote for, can participate in choosing their leaders and holding them accountable. When many of those leaders turn around and spread or amplify conspiracy theories about the security or accuracy of our elections that have been proven false by multiple sources, they then put our lives in danger. They put the lives of our kids and loved ones in danger. So i hope members of this body and others hear that from us today and put an end to it. That is what is going to have to happen in order for these threats to stop. Thank you, mr. Chair. Sender klobuchar. Senator klobuchar. Thank you, mr. Chair. We work together. I appreciate you coming to the rules committee. We have done important work there and are about to do important work on the electoral count act. That hearing could not have gone better. While you are testifying here i was going over there. It was very bipartisan. We are very it was a very positive hearing with every witness agreeing, including the republican witnesses that we should reform the act and the structure of those reforms. I will start with you, secretary benson. In december of 2020, approximately two dozen armed protesters accused you of ignoring voter fraud in 2020 election. They surrounded your house, chanting stop the steal. You are prepared to watch a Christmas Movie with your fouryearold son. In one video uploaded to social media, one person could be heard shouting, you are murderers, within shot of your childs bedroom. Can you describe the toll that these kinds of intimidation tactics have taken on you and your family . Yes. Thank you. For your leadership in bringing people together to. Move things forward. I hope we will see more bipartisan leadership as well on many of the other things we need to do to improve our democracy. Im grateful for your leadership on that. I signed up for this work, knowing that often times defending democracy means being able and willing to stand the front lines and face down threats and challenges. That is what many heroes throughout this serve our country of done. We dont expect them in the dark of night to come to the doorstep of our homes. I certainly did not expect, as a mom, to have to explain to my kids what the noise was. And even, that was not a very wellknown incident. It was not the only incident outside of my home. To have to teach my son that standing up for what is right often does require us to handle threats like these, threats to our lives. It creates an error air of anxiety and distress that no parent or child should have to endure. To know this is happening because of a lie, because of lies about our democracy, makes it pernicious and painful. The last thing i will say is that evening, for me, i also knew they were not protesting to me, they were protesting it to the will of the people and our state. As a secretary of state of michigan i will defend the will of the people every day and stand up to do it again again in again and again. Secretary, good to see you again. Thank you for i know you were serving a term as well. You got to work with my great secretary of state. I will not mention our voter turnout being the highest in the country. Oh, i just did. [laughter] i want to thank you. Following the 2020 election your personal information was published. You had to leave your home under Police Protection for weeks. In the years since you and members of your office have had to use services to remove personal information from the internet. As recently as this past june, he received threatening phone calls that had to be referred to the fbi. We know election workers, like yourself and the people work for you in every state in this country are necessary as a functioning of our democracy. Its Never Acceptable for anyone to use violence to advance political goals. Could you talk about how these threats have made it harder for not just you, but your staff, to do their jobs . Yes. Thank you senator. Thanks for always being such a wonderful partner and advocate in working with Election Officials across the board. I had not the same situation as secretary benson. Like, secretary benson, this has had a deep and profound impact on me and my personal life and on my staff. The staff, as the state Election Officials, and the folks that are really on the front lines. Our county clerks, our local Election Administrators and their family and staff, those poll workers that are out in the field that literally come in to do their job, leave their partisan hat at the door. I was just at our state county clerk meeting prior to our general election that we do. We do it before every statewide election in new mexico. Having very important moving conversations, primarily, this time, with county clerks from across party lines that are experiencing the lines most deeply in their county. , that are talking about retirement. That are wondering if theyre going to run for reelection because the daily pressure and stress and serious concern that they are dealing with is making them wonder if they can continue. So, i know that is just a microcosm of the of what we are experiencing as Election Officials at all levels. Thank you. I mr. Statement, because i was doing this other hearing but my staff told me did a great job. I thought this question, playing off what the secretary of state talked about, of turnover. This came out in hearing we had, including from the kentucky secretary of state, just about how it was hard to retain volunteers and staff and how perhaps federal law, senator durbin and i have talked about, could address these threats. And could help in terms of recruiting and retaining workers if they knew that their safety was protected. Do you want to elaborate . Sure. It has been a big concern, as my colleagues have said. It is interesting. We hear, as officials, we signed up for this. Election judges, they are the ones, its our church members, its the pta, these are the people that are actually conducting the elections. We have seen an increase in threats and intimidation to election workers too, where we are seeing our counties in colorado where they are trying to get information, the names and addresses of citizen election workers so they can put pressure on them and intimidate them. It has that Chilling Effect on their willingness to participate. However, like secretary benson, we see people getting their second wind, finding resolve and saying, we will not let this get to us. We will do this and defend democracy. I think we starting to see more of that. During my comments earlier, we are here because of failure of leadership. If people would just stand up and tell the truth, on both sides of the aisle, we would be much better off. When we can look around and see we are together on this, the way we can move Forward Together and continue to run successful auctions and election elections with people for people left confidence in we need to step up and lead. I really appreciate those remarks, because i think it is very important for republicans to stand up in addition to democrats. Youre doing that today. We have seen that in january 6 hearings in the house. We have seen people, democrats and republicans, talk about what happened to them. I was thinking about those poll workers in georgia, the mother and daughter pair, wehre where the mom, miss ruby was proud to wear the tshirt, but she couldnt even wear it anymore because she had been singled out by the president of the night states. Those stores are heartfelt. Election commissioner in philadelphia, he had to move out of his house. And having both sides come out and speak out that is what will make the difference. Thank you, all of you, we look forward to working with you. Mr. Chair, we just did a great job testifying before the rules committee. We could do two things at once. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks for your work in the rules committee which is parallel to this kind conversation which we have had for three hours today. This is the first hearing we have ever had in this committee on threats against election workers. Im sorry we had to have it. I wish it had been more bipartisan. I appreciate those members who did attend and participate in it. Weve got to solve this problem together. I dont know who the winner will be in the next election. Nobody does. Its up to the American People. Its up to us to create a process that is credible, so that the result is accepted. Thats the only way democracy can prevail. There is some who do not accept the 2020 result then we are paying a heavy price for it. Going back to your point, both parties have to come together to make sure in the future we do have a credible outcome and stand by it if we want to preserve this democracy. That is our first obligation. Thank you all for your testimony. There may be a question for the record sent to you. If you receive one please respond to it as quickly as possible so we can complete the record. Thanks for your patience today. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2022] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org]