Members of the Jan. 6 Select Committee will reportedly likely get a security detail in light of an increase in violent threats against panel members, three people involved with the investigation told the Washington Post.
The news comes after the panel’s fourth public hearing on Tuesday that detailed former President Trump and his allies’ pressure campaign targeting battleground state officials to overturn the 2020 election results.
The committee zeroed-in on Trump’s state-level pressure campaign and fake electors plot on Tuesday, with the panel showcasing emotional testimony from witnesses about the threats they have received for defying the Big Lie and the emotional toll it has taken on them and their families.
Witness Shaye Moss, a former Georgia elections worker, detailed the barrage of threats she and her mother Ruby Freeman, who also served as an elections worker in the battleground state, received after becoming a target of Trump and Rudy Giuliani. The former president and Giuliani falsely alleged that Moss and Freeman played a key role in a non-existent election fraud scheme.
Moss teared up as she recalled threats made against her by Trump supporters, which included death threats and racist attacks.
“It’s turned my life upside down,” Moss testified. “I don’t want anyone knowing my name. I don’t want to go anywhere with my mom because she might yell my name out over the grocery aisle or something. I don’t go to the grocery store at all. I haven’t been anywhere at all.”
This isn’t the first time Trump critics have endured threats that have prompted them to beef up their personal security.
The Post noted that committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY), who is an outspoken critic of Trump and his election fraud falsehoods, has had a personal security detail since last year. Amid intra-party backlash and threats from Trump supporters, Cheney has been unable to hold large public campaign events partly due to security concerns, aides told the Post.
Additionally, all nine impeachment managers for Trump’s second impeachment trial last year were given security detail.
Tuesday’s hearing happened days after Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) revealed that he received a death threat in a letter that targeted him, his wife and their 5-month-old baby. In an interview on ABC News on Sunday, Kinzinger warned of potential violence heading into the 2024 presidential election unless the GOP gets a “grip.”
Upcoming hearings will reportedly focus on right-wing extremism that prompted the mob of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) are reportedly set to co-lead a hearing focused on role extremism played in the lead up to the insurrection, according to the Post.
