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The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol has issued a new round of subpoenas, this time to 14 individuals who participated as purported “alternate electors” for former President Donald Trump.
The committee is seeking information from individuals who met and submitted purported Electoral-College certificates in seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
The Select Committee has obtained information that groups of individuals met on December 14th, 2020 in seven states carried by President Joe Biden, then submitted bogus slates of Electoral-College votes for former President Trump.
The so-called alternate electors from those states then transmitted the purported Electoral-College certificates to Congress, which multiple people advising former President Trump or his campaign used to justify delaying or blocking the certification of the election during the Joint Session of Congress on January 6th, 2021.
“The Select Committee is seeking information about attempts in multiple states to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including the planning and coordination of efforts to send false slates of electors to the National Archives,” Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement.
“We believe the individuals we have subpoenaed today have information about how these so-called alternate electors met and who was behind that scheme. We encourage them to cooperate with the Select Committee’s investigation to get answers about January 6th for the American people and help ensure nothing like that day ever happens again.”
The committee subpoenaed the following chairperson and secretary of each group of so-called alternate electors. Each state pair is listed as chairperson and secretary, respectively:
Nancy Cottle and Loraine Pellegrino from Arizona. Cottle is listed on the Arizona Federation of Republican Women’s website as being the group’s vice president.
David Shafer and Shawn Still from Georgia. Shafer is the chair of the Georgia GOP and was a plaintiff in some of Trump’s longshot lawsuits to overturn the election in Georgia. Still was the Georgia GOP’s finance chair and is now running for a Georgia Senate seat.
Kathy Berden and Mayra Rodriguez from Michigan. Berden was a national committeewoman at the Republican National Committee and served as a Trump delegate at the 2016 GOP convention. Rodriguez unsuccessfully ran for a Michigan House seat in 2020.
Jewll Powdrell and Deborah Maestas from New Mexico. Powdrell recently told the Albuquerque Journal that he signed the fake certificate at the behest of former Rep. Steve Pearce, the head of the New Mexico GOP. Maestas previously served in that role, leading the state GOP.
Michael McDonald and James DeGraffenreid from Nevada. McDonald is the Nevada GOP chairman and reportedly promoted false voter fraud claims in 2020. DeGraffenreid’s Facebook page says he is a national committeeman from Nevada for the RNC.
Bill Bachenberg and Lisa Patton from Pennsylvania. Bachenberg is a board member of the National Rifle Association and spoke at a pro-Trump fundraiser in 2020.
Andrew Hitt and Kelly Ruh from Wisconsin. Hitt is the former chairman of the Wisconsin GOP and a staffer for former Gov. Scott Walker. Ruh is currently an alderperson from the city of De Pere.
