and members of his inner-most circle. we re talking about the slates of fake electors set up in battleground states. they set up as the spark for the rest of the plan as conceived by john eastman. from the very beginning from when the plan was first conceived days after the november election, attorneys for the trump campaign were well aware of the fact that their plan for slates of fake electors was how should we put it fake. the new york times reported on emails from trump lawyers that say this, quote, we would just be sending in fake electoral votes to pence so someone in congress can make an objection when they start counting votes and start arguing that the they need to be counted. he wrote that on december 8, 2020 in an email to boris epshteyn, an advisor for the trump campaign. in a followup email, the same guy, mr. will len chick wrote that alternative votes is probably a better term, a better word than fake votes. he added a smiley face emoji. the plan quickly g
trump electors. we are going to hear from four witnesses this afternoon, including the secretary of state for georgia, brad raffensperger and his chief operating officer, gabriel sterling, big public figures in the wake of the november election in 2020. the committee says it s going to show evidence that former president trump put undue pressure on legislatures to try to put forward alternative slates and electors. for president trump, the strategy did not work, legislatures did not go along with it. you see betty thompson taking it there, much of the questioning will be handled by california congressman adam schiff as he questions the witnesses and makes the majority of the presentation. liz cheney there seated to betty thompson s left-hand side, adam schiff on the right-hand side. we expect the hearing will last at least a couple of hours. let s pause now while chairman thompson gavels in today s hearing. the select committee to investigate the january 6th attack on the u
threats to her safety after being accused of being part of a conspiracy theory involving fake ballots, debunked, by the way. most of the discussion heading into today s hearing surrounds brad raffensperger who won a primary earlier this month. raffensperger was facing deep discontent from some trump supporters for pushing back on donald trump in the days before the january 6 insurrection, refusing the former president s request to, quote, find the votes trump needed to win that state. i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state. flipping the state is a great testament to our country. ladies, in the hearings so far, each followed a pattern. donald trump was told he lost. he told his supporters that he won anyway. donald trump was told that there was no fraud. he told his supporters that there was fraud. donald trump was told that mike pence did not have the power to overturn the election. he said mike pence had the power to
to a michigan state rep on december 1st. this is what the effort to overturn trump s loss in michigan sounded like in voicemails from a campaign official to a republican rep. my name is angela mccallum. i m calling from train headquarters in washington, d.c. i know you re very busy but i did want to personally reach out to you on behalf of the president as you ve got an opportunity to be a crucial part of his re-election. tomorrow, as you might be aware, mayor giuliani will be presenting experts and witnesses from michigan who will be able to show that the vote totals are fatally flawed and do not accurately represent the will of the voters as well as your constituents. you do have the power to reclaim your authority and send a slate of electors that will support president trump and vice president pence. so no effort to shield trump s role in any of this.
untrue. these efforts also involved targeted outreach to state legislators. hi, my name is angela, calling from trump campaign headquarters in washington, d.c. you do have the power to reclaim your authority and send a slate of electors that will support president trump and vice president pence. from president trump s lawyers and from trump himself. and i become friendly with legislators that i didn t know four weeks ago. another legislator, pennsylvania house speaker brian cutler, received daily voice mails from trump s lawyers in the last week of november. mr. speaker, this is rudy giuliani and janet ellis, we are calling you together because we would like to discuss obviously the election. hello, mr. speaker, this is janet ellis, here with mayor rudy giuliani. he brian, it s rudy, i have something to call to your