(SELECT COMMITTEE SEEKS INFORMATION FROM NEWT GINGRICH / NEWS RELEASE)
Washington—Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) today announced that the Select Committee has requested that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich provide information for the committee’s investigation into the violence of January 6th and its causes. Information obtained by the Select Committee shows that Gingrich was in contact with senior advisors to President Trump regarding television advertisements that relied upon and amplified known false claims about fraud in the 2020 election and that Gingrich was involved in various other aspects of the scheme to overturn the 2020 election and block the transfer of power, including after the violence of January 6th.
Evidence obtained by the Select Committee demonstrates Mr. Gingrich’s role in spreading misinformation about the election in the days leading up to the December 14, 2020 meeting of the Electoral College. In a letter to Mr. Gingrich, Chairman Thompson wrote:
“Some of the information that we have obtained includes email messages that you exchanged with senior advisors to President Trump and others, including Jared Kushner and Jason Miller, in which you provided detailed input into television advertisements that repeated and relied upon false claims about fraud in the 2020 election. These advertising efforts were not designed to encourage voting for a particular candidate. Instead, these efforts attempted to cast doubt on the outcome of the election after voting had already taken place. They encouraged members of the public to contact their state officials and pressure them to challenge and overturn the results of the election. To that end, these advertisements were intentionally aired in the days leading up to December 14, 2020, the day electors from each state met to cast their votes for president and vice president.”
Evidence shows that Mr. Gingrich pushed messages designed to incite anger among voters even after Georgia election officials had faced intimidation and threats of violence. Chairman Thompson wrote:
“Your efforts did not only seek to persuade. Also on December 8, 2020, in response to a proposed script for a television advertisement about election fraud, you sent an email to Mr. Weitzner, Mr. Kushner, and Mr. Miller writing:
“The goal is to arouse the country’s anger through new verifiable information the American people have never seen before[.] . . . If we inform the American people in a way they find convincing and it arouses their anger[,] they will then bring pressure on legislators and governors.
“You sought to arouse anger just one week after Gabe Sterling, a senior Georgia official, warned the public of the violent threats made against Georgia election officials. He specifically stated that, ‘[s]omeone is going to get hurt. Someone is going to get shot. Someone is going to get killed.’ He was exactly right.
Mr. Gingrich remained involved in efforts to overturn the election and block the transfer of Presidential power even after the violence of January 6th. Chairman Thompson wrote:
“On the evening of January 6th, you continued to push efforts to overturn the election results. You emailed Mr. Meadows at 10:42 p.m., after the Capitol had been cleared of rioters and members of Congress had returned to finish certifying the election results, and asked, “[a]re there letters from state legislators about decertifying electors[?]” Accordingly, you appear to have been involved with President Trump’s efforts to stop the certification of the election results, even after the attack on the Capitol.”
The letter to Mr. Gingrich can be found here.
