“We have lots of theories. We just don’t have any evidence.” So spoke Rudy Giuliani according to Mike Shirky, Republican State Senate in Michigan. If for no other reason, the fourth day of hearings of the House Committee on January 6 was worthwhile for this priceless comment, a comment which perfectly describes the position of Donald Trump and the overwhelming majority of the Republicans. Shirkey also testified about the repeated pressure he got from Giuliani, Eastman and Trump himself to overturn the election result in Michigan. “Just do it and let the courts figure it out,” Eastman urged Shirkey.

Other witnesses such as Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Mark Meadows, testified that a plan had been developed starting in early December to organize the fake electors in six or seven different swing states. The plan was to send fake certificates to DC in order to allow Pence to say he was unable to tally the votes of those states and send it back to the respective legislatures. Then pressure would be applied to the individual legislators to nullify the real vote and send the fake elector votes to DC.

It was stressed over and over again by various witnesses – all Republicans and all supporters of Trump – that there was never any credible evidence presented of any serious misconduct in the election nor in counting the results of the election. One of the most striking claims, and the personal results of that claim, was that by Trump and his supporters that “suitcases of ballots” had been stored under a table by election workers in (heavily Democratic) Fulton County, Georgia. After Republican poll watchers were sent away, those suitcases were supposedly pulled out and the fake ballots counted. This claim was based on part of a video taken in that counting room. A Republican official in Georgia carefully explained what really happened, based on the full video: Around 10:00 or 10:30 at night, the poll workers were dismissed and told to go home. The poll watchers were dismissed, the poll workers put the uncounted ballots in secured boxes, got up and put on their coats. At that time, the official got a call from a state official instructing him to continue the count until it was finished. He so instructed the poll workers, who took off their coats, sat back down, took the boxes out from under the table and continued counting the ballots. That’s what the full video revealed, and Trump, Giuliani & Co. were so told. They did not dispute this evidence, but they continued with their lies about this event.

(l)Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman.
Moss testified how important working as a poll worker was to her. She explained how in the not too distant past black people had been denied the right to vote in the South and helping people vote today meant a lot to her. In this picture, Freeman is giving her daughter the infamous ginger candy.

One dedicated election worker, Andrea Shaye Moss, received the brunt of the attack from Trump & co. Among other things, Moss was seen receiving some small item from her mother, Ruby Freeman, who was also working on election day. Without a shred of evidence, Trump & Co. claimed it was a flash drive which Moss then plugged into her computer. In fact, according to Moss, her mother had given her a ginger candy! The result was that Moss and her mother not only received hundreds of death threats, they had racists picketing outside their homes. In one instance, Freeman actual had some of these racists push their way into her home to search for and “arrest” her daughter, Shaye Moss.

This entire traumatic affair totally disrupted their lives and continues to do so to this day. Neither woman wants to be seen or identified in public. Moss said that she’s been under so much stress that she’s gained 60 pounds. “All because of lies,” as Moss said.

Today, Republican members of the House January 6 committee are receiving death threats and special details of the Secret Service are protecting them. But Moss and Freeman received no protection. Instead, Moss got the advice from the FBI to move out of her house! Moss and Freeman were lionized by the entire committee for their courage, and well they should be, but none of the committee members pointed out the abysmal failure of the FBI in this instance. It was a dereliction of duty no less important in the overall scheme of things that Officer Arredondo’s in Uvalde, Texas. After all, as Schiff commented, “If the most powerful person in the world can bring death threats down on a person for doing her job, who among us is safe?”

That question summarized the importance of what happened even before the election, never mind after. It summarized where the US is headed if the Republicans regain complete control of Washington DC. The prevention of this threat at present is being left up to the Democrats and the forces of law and order. The case of Ruby Moss by itself is proving that they are not up to the task.

(l)Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman.
Moss testified how important working as a poll worker was to her. She explained how in the not too distant past black people had been denied the right to vote in the South and helping people vote today meant a lot to her.