States United Democracy Center Releases State Highlights from House Hearings on January 6 Attack

Published: 9.27.22

Washington, D.C. — The States United Democracy Center today released a set of summaries highlighting evidence presented at the January 6 Select Committee hearings on efforts to undermine the 2020 election outcome in five states. This is an update to the five state-by-state guides to the January 6 attack that the States United Democracy Center released in June, detailing attempts to undermine the free, fair, and secure 2020 presidential election. 

Ahead of the next January 6 Select Committee hearing on Wednesday, these updated state reports outline information presented by the Committee this summer about efforts to promote electoral fraud, pressure campaigns to overturn the election, and threats to elected officials. The state summaries cover Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Major highlights include: 

• In Arizona, fake electors met on December 20, 2020, in Phoenix, purporting to cast electoral votes for Trump.
• In Georgia, Trump called Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and pressured him to “find 11,780 votes” 
• In Michigan, armed protesters surrounded the family home of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, calling her a “threat to democracy.” 
• In Pennsylvania, House Speaker Bryan Cutler received daily voicemails from Trump’s lawyers in November, which he felt was “inappropriate.”
• In Wisconsin, Andrew Hitt, former chairman of the state’s Republican Party who signed on to be a fake elector said he was told the fake electoral votes would count only “if a court ruled in our favor,” suggesting he was misled about the plot.

“As the January 6 Committee resumes public hearings, we can’t lose sight of what we learned this summer,” said Joanna Lydgate, CEO of States United Democracy Center. “Our democracy starts and ends with the states, and it’s critical that the American people understand the relentless, calculated effort to undermine states’ free and fair elections. Voters deserve a complete picture of both the threats and the critical role that state and local leaders played in protecting our freedom to vote.” 

Members of the States United Democracy Center’s bipartisan Advisory Board—a group that includes former governors, state attorneys general, and secretaries of state—previously submitted written testimony to the Select Committee.

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About the States United Democracy Center

The States United Democracy Center is a nonpartisan organization advancing free, fair, and secure elections. We focus on connecting state officials, law enforcement leaders, and pro-democracy partners across America with the tools and expertise they need to safeguard our democracy. For more information, visit statesuniteddemocracy.org.