Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his top deputy Gabe Sterling are slated to testify this month before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
The Republicans are expected to be witnesses before the panel in the weeks ahead, likely the week of June 20, as part of its public hearings designed to shed new light on the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak on the record. Both Raffensperger and Sterling had been subpoenaed for their testimony.
A spokesperson for the committee did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Raffensperger became nationally known for his refusal to overturn Georgia’s election results following the 2020 elections in the face of substantial pressure from former President Donald Trump and his allies.
“Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong,” Raffensperger told Trump during an infamous leaked call on Jan. 2, 2021, during which the president cajoled him to “find” 11,780 votes to reverse Democrat Joe Biden’s win in Georgia.
His turn before the select committee, however, could bring him into the national spotlight in a new way.
Sterling, currently deputy secretary of state, was Georgia’s voting system manager during the 2020 election. He’s best known for his emotional appeal during a December 2020 press conference, during which he called for Trump to “stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence” against poll workers and elections officials.
Raffensperger and Sterling are not the only Georgians who may get a starring role in the hearings, which begin on Thursday.
Former Atlanta-based U.S. attorney Byung “BJay” Pak told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he’s also open to testifying publicly at one of the committee hearings.
He said that the panel has reached out to his attorney and that discussions are ongoing, confirming a report by the New York Times.
Pak has already spoken privately with members of Congress examining the root causes of the Capitol attack. Ditto for Raffensperger, who handed over documents that could aid congressional investigators.
Pak resigned abruptly in January 2021 after Trump became frustrated that federal prosecutors in Georgia had found no evidence of significant election fraud. Trump demanded Pak’s ouster, and he resigned.
Raffensperger, who recently secured his party’s nomination for a second term, is also at the center of a different investigation being helmed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
He testified for almost five hours last week before a Fulton special grand jury investigating the actions of Trump and his allies in Georgia following the 2020 elections.
Pak’s resignation is also of interest to Willis, the Democrat previously confirmed. Prosecutors and jurors are also scheduled to hear from Sterling and other aides from the Secretary of State’s office in the weeks ahead.
