(FiveNation.com)- Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is now a central subject of the House Select Committee’s investigation into the Capitol riot on January 6 of 2021.
Media outlet The Hill reported recently that the Select Committee is attempting to look into Gingrich after they reportedly found evidence that he was part of the effort to overturn the results from the 2020 presidential election.
One member of the Democrat-led committee said recently that Gingrich apparently was part of the effort to create fake electors in some states that former President Donald Trump claimed he had won. Gingrich was allegedly part of a team of people who are loyal to Trump who took on this effort for the fake electors.
The Hill reported that Bennie Thompson, the chair of the committee from Mississippi, recently sent a letter to Gingrich requesting his “voluntary cooperation” with their investigation. The letter explained that the committee believed Gingrich communicated with many of Trump’s advisors such as Jason Miller, Mark Meadows and Jared Kushner about several ways they could overturn the election results.
According to The Hill, members of the committee were able to come in possession of an email from Gingrich that showed he suggested making a reference to a “call to action” in a post-election TV advertisement in Georgia that supported conspiracy theories surrounding voter fraud.
He allegedly told Miller and Kushner the objective of the campaign was to arouse “the country’s anger,” adding that voters “will then bring pressure on legislators and governors.”
Representative Zoe Lofgren from California, a Democrat serving on the committee, told CNN recently that she believed Gingrich was part of the efforts to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election even after the Capitol riot happened on January 6, 2021.
While the committee has already spoken with in excess of 1,000 people as part of their probe, Lofgren said they still wanted to speak with other people, including Gingrich and Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The committee held its eighth public hearing back at the end of July. This week, though, after House members returned from their normal end-of-summer recess, members of the Select Committee got together to discuss their plan going forward for the next round of public meetings.
It has been reported that the committee could hold their next meeting as early as a few weeks, though it’s more likely that the next one won’t come until October.
Gingrich appeared on the “Fox & Friends” TV show earlier this week, saying the committee is “a show trial in the Stalinist tradition.” He added that he hasn’t engaged directly with any members of the committee, either.
He also referenced the actions the committee is taking so close to the November midterm elections. As he said:
“The ground rule used to be that 60 days out, they stopped all the stuff precisely not to try to influence an election. Instead, you have a deliberate targeting process underway to intimidate Republican donors, Republican candidates and even Republican lawyers. This is as close to a police state tactic as we’ve ever seen in this country.”
