Doxxing, Trump Pressure & Threats: Inside Four Days of January 6 Panel Public Hearings

On June 10, the House committee investigating the 2021 Capitol breach kicked off its first public hearing out of six. The aim of the investigation is to determine whether former US President Donald Trump and his allies plotted the Capitol Riot as a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results and make sure the 45th president stayed in power.

The Tuesday hearing with the January 6 Committee marked the fourth session of the panel's investigation into the causes of the Capitol breach that took place in January 2021.

With two more hearings to come, here is a quick round-up of the takeaways from both the Tuesday hearing and the previous assemblies by the panel.

On June 21, the Committee heard testimony from multiple state officials who, in particular, revealed that they faced threats and even harassment from former President Donald Trump, who tried to pressure them into supporting his claims of alleged election fraud, which he continues to claim marred his "victory" in the 2020 White House race.

The Tuesday hearing's questioning was led by Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff. Among the witnesses were Arizona House Speaker Russell Bowers and Georgia Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling, as well as Georgia election worker Shaye Moss.

The latter's testimony appeared to be one of the most emotional, with the election worker revealing that she received "a lot of threats wishing death upon me, telling me that, you know, I'll be in jail with my mother."

Georgia State Secretary Brad Raffensperger also delivered his testimony, alleging that he was "doxxed", receiving texts from "all over the country". Among those who shared similar grievances were Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, who said he got thousands of texts calling on him to "take action" in regard to election fraud claims, and Pennsylvania House Speaker Brian Cutler, who alleged he received "daily voicemails from Trump's lawyers." Cutler also said that his personal information has been exposed online.

Bowers, who is a Republican, testified on Tuesday that Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs asked him on January 6 whether he would publicly support the decertification of the Arizona electors' votes. Bowers said he declined the offer.

In the earlier hearings, the panel unveiled some never-before-seen testimonies from Trump allies, among whom were the former president's daughter Ivanka Trump. She and others said they knew that Trump's election fraud claims were unfounded.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chairs the January 6 Committee, said that the January 6 events were just a culmination of a coup that was orchestrated long before the angry crowd breached Capitol Hill.

Trump himself, as well as his Republican allies, chastised the public hearings as partisan and biased, yet again dubbing the January 6 panel an "Unselect Committee". The former president's spokesman Taylor Budowich described the hearings as "circus".

"No facts. No substance. Just more lies and deception out of a Democrat Party that’s drunk on power," he tweeted.

The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday. According to Thompson, the session will focus on Trump's alleged efforts to pressure the Department of Justice into overturning the 2020 election results.

Donald Trump was accused by the Democrats of "inciting insurrection" after an angry crowd headed from his big rally to the Capitol Hill and breached Congress on January 6, 2021, demanding that the 2020 presidential election results be overturned. Shortly after the Capitol breach started, Trump called for protesters to refrain from violence.

However, the former president faced his second impeachment trial over the allegations, but the Senate acquitted him. Trump himself vehemently denied any wrongdoing, insisting he never wanted violence on the US streets. He continues to believe that the 2020 election was "rigged" by the Democratic Party.