State officials testify on Trump pressure to discredit election | First Thing
Officials and poll workers subjected to violent, hateful and at times racist threats from ex-president's supporters, January 6 committee told. Plus, could fewer arrests actually reduce crime?
Good morning.
State election officials testified before the January 6 committee on Tuesday, recounting how Donald Trump and his allies put pressure on them to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election in the weeks leading up to the deadly Capitol attack.
Who testified yesterday? Rusty Bowers, the Republican speaker of the Arizona house, was among those testifying. Before the hearing, Trump released a statement mocking Bowers as a RINO", meaning Republican in name only.
What did Bowers say? He said he repeatedly pressed Trump and his lawyers to present valid evidence of widespread fraud in Arizona's results. According to Bowers, Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's campaign attorneys, told him: We've got lots of theories, we just don't have the evidence."
Lawmakers released the 80-page bill yesterday evening. The measure is estimated to cost around $15bn, which Murphy said would be fully paid for.
What is going to happen to the school in Uvalde where 21 were killed? Don McLaughlin told a council meeting in Uvalde on Tuesday that it was his understanding" that Robb elementary school would be razed and a new school built for its nearly 600 pupils after the tragedy in May.
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