The House Jan. 6 committee on Thursday asked former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich to voluntarily discuss his involvement in former President Donald Trump’s plot to overturn the 2020 election.
What’s happening: In a letter sent to Gingrich, Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the committee has obtained emails Gingrich sent to top Trump advisers about television ads aimed at convincing voters the election had been stolen.
“Among the numerous emails you exchanged regarding purported election fraud, you wrote on December 8, 2020, urging Donald Trump’s campaign to air advertisements promoting the false narrative that election workers had smuggled suitcases containing fake ballots at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia,” Thompson wrote.
“These advertising efforts were not designed to encourage voting for a particular candidate,” he continued. “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.”
Thompson also alleged Gingrich was involved in the so-called “fake elector scheme,” an effort to send a slate of 16 alternate electors who would cast Georgia’s electoral votes for Trump, even though he lost the state’s popular vote to Joe Biden.
The committee has continued to gather evidence during Congress’ August recess. According to The Washington Post, the evidence included two years worth of text messages that Alex Jones’ attorney accidentally provided to the plaintiffs in a lawsuit after Jones disparaged the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting.
What’s next? Gingrich has not responded publicly to the request by the committee, and it is unclear if investigators will pursue a subpoena in order to compel his testimony.
The Jan. 6 committee has said it plans to hold more prime-time hearings beginning in September. Thompson asked Gingrich to conduct the voluntary interview sometime during the week of Sept. 19, according to CNN.