Former Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign director Bill Stepien will testify before the House Select Committee on Monday, Jan. 6, in a hearing that will focus on Trump’s decision to declare victory over Joe Biden tonight. of the elections and knowing that he was spreading lies of widespread elections. frau.
Stepien will appear before the committee in a panel with Chris Stirewalt, the former political editor of Fox News who was fired after defending the first projection of the network that Trump had lost to Arizona on election night, a move that infuriated ‘ex-president.
A political consultant now advising Harriet Hageman, Trump’s main rival to January 6 committee leader Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming MP Stepien, will testify before the committee on Monday, his lawyer confirmed on ABC News.
A second panel of witnesses at the approximately two-hour hearing will include Al Schmidt, a former Republican commissioner from the city of Philadelphia who has repeatedly denied allegations of fraud in the state; veteran GOP election lawyer Ben Ginsburg and Byung “BJay” Pak, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
City Commissioner Al Schmidt is in front of the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on November 6, 2020.
Lynsey Addario / Getty Images, FILE
Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak speaks during a conference in Atlanta on May 14, 2019.
Bob Andres / AP, FILE
Pak previously told Senate investigators that he resigned in January 2021 after learning that Trump tried to fire him for doing nothing more to amplify his false allegations of widespread electoral fraud in Georgia.
In a Los Angeles Times opinion piece after the Capitol riot, Stirewalt, who was fired from Fox News on January 19, 2021, wrote that after the Arizona call, “it became the goal of the killer rage of consumers who were furious at not confirming their views. “
In a briefing with reporters Sunday evening, select committee aides said Monday’s hearing will explore the actions of Trump and his campaign during the days and weeks following election night, and the decision to propel “the big lie to millions of followers” and to raise funds for claims that The Rioters later served to justify the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
A video of former President Donald Trump speaking during a demonstration near the White House on January 6, 2021 shows members of the committee from left to right, MP Stephanie Murphy, Rep. Pete Aguilar, Rep. Adam Schiff , Rep. Zoe Lofgren, President Bennie Thompson, Vice President Liz Cheney, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rep. Elaine Luria, observe as the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on The US Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a one-year investigation at the Washington Capitol on June 9, 2022.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Live Witness Interrogation, along with video clips that the committee videotaped with other key witnesses, will show how Trump was told he had lost the election and had no evidence of widespread election fraud. while he continued to claim that his election was stolen, according to his collegiate members. dit.
“I think we can prove to anyone reasonable and open-minded that Donald Trump absolutely knew, because he was surrounded by lawyers, including U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who told him without a doubt, in terms that Donald Trump could understand, that’s BS, “D-Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin told CNN on Sunday.
The committee’s hearing, which will be led in part by California Democrat Zoe Lofgren, will show “how litigation normally works to challenge elections” and argue that Trump had an “obligation” to “comply with the state’s right “. when his dozens of lawsuits failed in courts across the country.
Nearly 20 million people watched the committee’s hearing at prime time last Thursday, the first of seven scheduled for this month.
Using a never-before-seen video of the Capitol assault and the testimony of Barr and Trump’s own daughter, Ivanka, the committee set out the grand conclusions of its investigation, placing Trump at the center of a “coup attempt.” ‘last year.
The hearings scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday will explore Trump’s efforts to pressure the Justice Department to investigate and spread false allegations of widespread election fraud, forcing Vice President Mike Pence to block the January 6 vote count.