The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold its first congressional hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 16, to examine “irregularities” in the 2020 presidential election.
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the Republican chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee, invited prominent lawyer Ken Starr and lawyers from key battleground states to testify.
It will be the first election-related hearing in Congress since the November 3 election. Most Republicans in Congress have been silent on the election results and have not publicly supported Trump’s legal efforts or the fraud allegations, but fewer than 30 have publicly acknowledged Biden’s victory.
Mr Johnson said his hearings were intended to “restore confidence in the system” and were intended only to “expose suspicious activity” in the election, without drawing conclusions or overturning the results.
He also said the hearing will help him decide whether to join House Republicans in challenging the election results at the Congressional electoral college vote count conference on January 6.
Johnson is now likely to become the first Republican senator to challenge the electoral college vote, as congressional processes require a joint challenge from both houses of Congress. He has met with one of them, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a Republican in the House of Representatives, this week to talk about highlighting violations ahead of the hearing.
“If there is an unexplained violation, that’s fine, [we can] put it aside, because we have to restore confidence in our electoral system,” Johnson told CNN on Friday, “and we need to change the law or enforce the law so that this doesn’t happen in the future.”
Starr, a former independent lawyer who investigated Clinton when she was president, will be the “chief witness” who will testify on absentee ballots, Johnson said.
Also invited to testify were Jim Troupis, a retired judge who represented the Trump campaign in Wisconsin, and a lawyer in Nevada.
Johnson said they are also considering inviting witnesses from Pennsylvania and Joe.
Asked if he would join House Republicans to challenge the election results, Johnson said it would depend on testimony at a hearing next week. “If you don’t have a good, satisfactory explanation, that’s a problem.”
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, attacked Mr Johnson at the hearing this week, demanding that he cancel it immediately.
With Democrats eager to challenge Him for the seat in 2022, Johnson will decide whether to run for a third term because he stands with Trump.
Asked if he would run again, Johnson said, “This election is not over.” He was referring to the U.S. presidential election on November 3. Asked when he would make a decision, Johnson said he would wait until “the election is over.”
The Electoral College meets on December 14
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Tuesday that the Electoral College will meet on December 14 to elect the president.
Under federal law, states have until December 8 to resolve any dispute over their votes and confirm the winner. If a state fails to complete the count before then, under the Electoral College, Congress can rule that their electors will not be counted in the final count. In addition, members of the Electoral College will vote for the president on December 14.
The U.S. Congress will then convene in Washington on January 6, 2021 EASTERN time, at 1 p.m., to count the electoral votes and announce the winner. If there is dissent, at least one senator and representative should challenge the election results in the meeting.
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