Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., gaveled in Tuesday's Jan. 6 committee hearing, highlighting a recent incident in New Mexico in which a court had to step in and order a GOP-controlled county commission to certify results of a recent election after the body's three members refused to do so.
"Two of the three members of the commission finally relented. One still refused, saying his vote, 'Isn’t based on any evidence, it’s not based on any facts, it’s only based on my gut feeling and my own intuition, and that’s all I need,'" Thompson said.
The committee's chairman was referring to Commissioner Couy Griffin, founder of Cowboys for Trump, who was found guilty in March of trespassing on restricted grounds during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Thompson said this refusal to certify the results reminds the public that claims of widespread voter fraud have always been a lie, Trump knew they were a lie "and kept amplifying them anyway."
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
"Second, the lie hasn’t gone away. It’s corrupting our democratic institutions. People who believe that lie are now seeking positions of public trust," he said. "If that happens, who will make sure our institutions don’t break under the pressure? We won’t have close calls. We’ll have catastrophe."
This is a live update. Click here for complete coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings.
