A number of key witnesses are set to appear at the second hearing, which committee aides say will focus on the “Big Lie”–then-President Donald Trump’s election night claim of victory, despite being told otherwise, and his continued attempts to cast doubt on the official results by embracing unfounded claims of voter fraud.
Those appearing before the House select committee include “government officials who were the ones who looked for the fraud” and testimony “about how the effort to uncover these baseless allegations bore no fruit,” committee aides told CBS News.
“Simply, the fraud that they were looking for didn't exist and the former president was told that, again and again, claims were baseless, but he continued to repeat them anyway,” the aide detailed regarding the hearing’s focus.
Bill Stepien
Political consultant Bill Stepien, a Republican, served as director of political affairs in the Trump White House from 2017 to 2018 and campaign manager for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign. Stepien also worked on former President George W. Bush’s 2004 presidential reelection and led former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s successful gubernatorial campaign in 2009.
Stepien was subpoenaed to appear at the Monday hearing, making it unclear whether he is a ‘friendly’ witness, a source familiar with his thinking told Axios.
From left, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump, and campaign manager for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign Bill Stepien, listen as President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd of supporters during a campaign stop at Mariotti Building Product, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, in Old Forge, Pa.
© AP Photo / Evan Vucci
The political consultant was subpoenaed by the US House select committee back in November and reportedly “supervised the conversation” within the Trump campaign concerning “Stop the Steal” rally messaging and related fundraising efforts, per the panel’s issuance.
“That messaging included the promotion of certain false claims related to voting machines despite an internal campaign memo in which campaign staff determined that such claims were false,” read the subpoena.
Stepien currently serves as an adviser to Harriet Hagerman, a Trump-endorsed Wyoming Republican running against Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), vice chair of the Jan. 6 panel.
Byung J. ‘BJay’ Pak
BJay Pak, a Trump-appointed US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, notably resigned from the administration after Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and other state election officials and pressured them to “find” more votes in his favor and overturn the 2020 election results.
Pak was the first Korean American to become a US attorney.
In this Aug. 13, 2019, file photo, U.S. Attorney Byung J. "BJay" Pak is seen following a news conference in Atlanta. The Senate Judiciary Committee met privately Wednesday. Aug. 11, 2021, with the former U.S. Attorney in Georgia who resigned in January as former President Donald Trump waged a pressure campaign on state and federal officials to overturn his presidential defeat — part of a larger probe into Trump's actions after the November election.
© AP Photo / Ron Harris
While Pak claimed that “unforeseen circumstances” were behind his abrupt departure, a report in the Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter claimed that 45 forced the US attorney to resign because he felt not enough was being done to investigate his unfounded election fraud claims.
Meanwhile, CNN reported the US attorney chose to step down after learning Trump planned on firing him amid a DoJ shakeup.
Chris Stirewalt
Former Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt confirmed to NewsNation on Friday that he would be a witness during the Monday hearing. During an interview with the outlet, which employs Stirewalt as a political editor, he clarified that he is “not in a position” to discuss what his testimony will be about.
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which acquired The Hill in 2021.
Stirewalt was fired from Fox News following backlash from viewers who felt the network was too quick to call Arizona for then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The state ultimately went to Biden (49.4%) over Trump (49.1%).
The former Fox News editor told CNN he will let his “on-air remarks speak for themselves.”
Benjamin Ginsberg
Longtime election-law attorney Benjamin Ginsberg is expected to make an appearance during the Monday hearing and inform the House select committee that Trump’s claims of widespread election fraud in the 2020 US presidential election are unjustified.
Ginsberg, a Republican, penned an op-ed in the Washington Post two days before the 2020 presidential election claiming the GOP “is destroying itself on the altar of Trump.”
In this June 23, 2012, file photo campaign counsel Ben Ginsberg walks at a private donors' conference for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at The Chateaux at Silver Lake at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah. Television networks are adding experts in election law to their election night coverage teams. Ginsberg, who represented George W. Bush when the 2000 presidential race was decided in the Supreme Court, has joined CNN for this purpose.
© AP Photo / Charles Dharapak
“President Trump has failed the test of leadership. His bid for reelection is foundering,” Ginsberg wrote. “And his only solution has been to launch an all-out, multimillion-dollar effort to disenfranchise voters — first by seeking to block state laws to ease voting during the pandemic, and now, in the final stages of the campaign, by challenging the ballots of individual voters unlikely to support him.”
Al Schmidt
Former Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, the sole Republican commissioner to oversee the state’s 2020 presidential election, will also testify on Monday.
Schmidt reportedly received death threats toward his three children after then-President Trump tweeted about him after the 2020 election.
Posted weeks after the election, Trump’s tweet claimed Schmidt “is being used big time by the Fake News Media to explain how honest things were with respect to the Election in Philadelphia” and “refuses to look at the mountain of corruption & dishonesty. We win!”
Back in October, Schmidt testified before the US Senate Committee on Rules and Administration that threats against election officials rose with the spread of misinformation from the Trump campaign. He went on to cite an instance where two men armed with guns and ammunition were arrested outside a Pennsylvania convention center, where they hoped to intercept “counterfeit” ballots coming to the center for official counting.
“They, like many others were lied to, and deceived and deranged by those lies,” Schmidt testified, noting the two men were also arrested for their involvement in the January 6 insurrection.
The second hearing will kick off at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday, June 13.