DETROIT – A Republican lawmaker detailed what happened when former President Donald Trump Tweeted out his personal cell phone number, and we learned Trump supporters wanted to hide out in the Michigan State Capitol to overturn the election results.
Former State GOP Chair Laura Cox testified that when she heard about the scheme to have a fake slate of electors hiding in the Capitol, she said she was flabbergasted.
“He told me that the Michigan Republican Electors were planning to meet in the Capitol and hide overnight so that they could fulfill the role of casting their vote per law in the Michigan Chambers,” said Cox. “And I told him, ‘In no uncertain terms that that was insane and inappropriate.”
The fake electors ultimately did not do that but did try to access the Capitol and were turned away by the Michigan State Police.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey testified when that when President Trump invited top Michigan GOP legislators to Washington D.C., he said he told the President they would be following the law in Michigan.
Read: Michigan GOP leader: ‘We told Trump we were going to follow law’ after meeting on 2020 election
Trump was displeased by that response, and then he Tweeted out Shirkey’s personal phone number as part of a pressure campaign.
“All I remember is receiving just shy of 4,000 text messages in over a short period of time,” Shirkey said. “It was a loud noise. A loud, consistent cadence of ‘we heard that the Trump folks are calling and asking for changes and the electors and you guys can do this.’ They were believing things that were untrue.”
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson testified that armed Trump supporters surrounded her Detroit home after the election. She said people were shouting “stop the steal,” one yelling “murderers” she described it to the committee as scary, not knowing whether she and her family would be physically attacked.
“It was really hard to watch again today because I was reminded for about a good 45 minutes that the only thing that stood between that crowd and my family was one neighborhood security guard that you could see standing on my porch,” said Benson.
When Detroit police arrived that night at Benson’s home, the crowd dispersed, officials say.
There was no arrest.
As far as that fake elector’s scheme, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office has turned over its findings to federal prosecutors.
The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
