Transcripts For CSPAN Hearing On Threats To Election Officia

CSPAN Hearing On Threats To Election Officials August 7, 2022

The department will testify about the progress that has been made. We will hear from Public Officials who have received Death Threats because of their efforts to protect voting. Before we begin, i want to play video to put this in perspective. [video clip] donald trump releasing a barrage without evidence. Numbers started miraculously getting whittled away. In secret, we have so much evidence and proof. Donald trump, jr. And other allies threatened to turn against allies who do not rust to the president s rate the president s defense. Is also having a detrimental effect on poll workers and everyday citizens. We have confirmed these are not suitcases but standard ballot containers. He ruined these womens lives. Described in a lawsuit how she left her home of 20 years hours before a mob of angry trump supporter surrounded her home. Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you . I felt like it was all my fault. Like if i would have never decided to be an election worker , people were lying and spreading rumors and lies in attacking my mother. Was disturbing as that is, it is one part of the trump fueled intimidation effort that has been waged against freeman and election workers like her. They had assault rifles. I cannot go anywhere without Police Officers. We had officers on the roof of our building and go bags ready for my family and children. In places like arizona. Are coming for you, you will find you. In wisconsin. We are going to hang you. In georgia. Do you hear the anger in my voice . We are going to find you. This has to stop. This is elections, the backbone of democracy and all of you who have not set a downward arc complicit in this a damn word or complicit in this. Somebody is going to get hurt, shot, killed. We have discussed the issue of violence in the past. Has been a consensus in this committee and i hope it continues in congress that there is no place in violence ever in our system of government on the right or the left. I want to tell the story of ruby freeman. Thanks to the january 6 committee, Many Americans know her story. The 62yearold grandmother in fulton county, georgia. She and her granddaughter and her daughter were two of hundreds who worked the election day. They found themselves at the center of the big lie when Rudy Giuliani promoted a viral video that he claimed showed misses freeman and misses moss counting illegal ballots. In reality, his claim was false. The only thing they were guilty of was performing their civic duty, diligently, faithfully, legally. The republicanled georgia sector States Office and the Georgia Bureau of investigation immediately refuted Rudy Giulianis live at the damage had already been done. For months, the former president s allies and the rightwing medial akron tinker right Media Echo Chamber immediately standard them. They received hundreds of threatening and racist phone calls. Mrs. Freeman was confronted at her home. Mrs. Moss left her job with the Legislation Department that she served for nearly a decade. Last week, Court Documents indicated that freeman and mosss names were written on a pad of paper written death list found in the home of a member of the oath keepers who is charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the january 6 attack. Ruby freeman and shaye moss are not alone. Election workers throughout the country of both Political Parties have been forced to take extraordinary steps to protect themselves and their families. Many of these election workers have spent their own money installing elaborate Home Security systems. Others, like one county in colorado, have begun to wear a bulletproof vest to work. Over the past several months, my office has heard from individual election workers who share their stories of violent threats. Many submitted statements for our hearing. These threats are taking a disastrous toll on our democracy. According to a recent survey, roughly one in five Election Officials plans to leave their job ahead of the next residential election. This mass exodus coincides with an ongoing, organized effort by big lie promoters to secure jobs and elections across our country. He saw this last night in a republican primary in arizona. Our democracy cannot survive if we allow harassment and intimidation of Election Officials to become the new norm. As we look ahead to this years election, fewer than 100 days away, i hope we learned election the lessons of the last election. The former president s plot to overturn the election read to it on america. He saw that here in the capitol on january 6, 2021. Public servants are living with the consequence of this big lie every of their lives. I look forward to hearing more about the steps the Justice Department is taking to protect Election Officials leading up to this election and i hope every member of this committee will join me in condemning the threats those officials continue to face. I turn to Ranking Member senator grassley for his opening. Thank you chairman durbin. Our hearing today is on threats against election workers, threats of violence are Never Acceptable. Any threats of violence. Violence is a very major problem in america today. With rates of Violent Crimes skyrocketing across the country, not since the 1990s have we seen these levels of murder, assault, carjacking, robbery, attacks on police, and other Violent Crimes. To start, the start of this Violent Crime wave began in 2020 as police nationwide were pushed off the street. The study from the council of criminal justice showed that murders in major cities in 2021 where 44 more than in 2019. So far, this year, major cities of baltimore, los angeles, philadelphia, washington, d. C. , atlanta, new york city or already worsted in 2021. The baseline is rising. Higher rates of Violent Crime are becoming the new norm. Some of the main causes of this rise in Violent Crime are antipolice rhetoric, deep policing efforts, progressing prosecution, defund the police movements. We talked about the crisis faced by Law Enforcement officers last week in this very committee. In our hearing about attacks on police. This crisis in policing is happening at the same time that progressing prosecutors refused to hold violent criminals accountable for their crimes. Witness after witness in this committee has told us that theyll reform helps to release violent criminals who then can go commit more crimes. We all heard about the horrible story that occurred in wisconsin where a man sure dust drove into a parade of people, killing six and wounding more. He was out on bail for Violent Crimes. He should never have been freed. But a progressive prosecutor and lax laws allowed him to get out and kill all those people. Research is clear that a huge amount of Violent Crime in any city is committed by a very small number of repeat offenders. Just think, if police and prosecutors can focus on those offenders, they can improve the situation very significantly. But because of difficult things at the state level in terms of understaffed Police Departments progressive prosecutors who turn a blind eye to Violent Crime and state legislators who often soften criminal laws and implement bill reform states do not seem to be solving this problem nor are they capable of doing this all alone. Federal reserve federal support is necessary. Congress must treat Violent Crime as a very top priority. For this reason, last week i introduced combating violent and dangerous crime acts. The bill contains commonsense proposals to reduce the spike in Violent Crime in the nation. Proposals that would expand federal prosecution options for offenses like murder, carjacking, bank robbery and assault on police. All of my fellow republicans on this committee have cosponsored this bill and i thank them for doing this. The department of justice should also be treating Violent Crime is a top priority. But that is not what we are seeing from this department of justice. In the summer of 2020 under the trump administration, the department of justice conducted operation legend which was targeted towards prosecuting violent criminals in places in america that had the worst rates of Violent Crime. This effort was a supplement to the overstretched state and local Law Enforcement and Court Systems which simply could not deal with the surge in Violent Crimes they were seeing. Whenever a question about Violent Crime comes up, the department of justice only wants to talk about gun control, not punishing criminals who commit Violent Crime. I wrote a letter to the department of justice on february 14, 2022 to ask the department to answer the misguided and politicized approach to Law Enforcement. Now we are here on the subject of this area that more than a year ago, the doj formed a task force on threats to election workers. It appears only four cases have been announced as a result of this task force effort. That is after more than a years work. There have been no charges of acts of violence against election workers. These prosecutions may be very worthy but the existence of a full doj tax for task force is confusing. Compared to operation legend which resulted in 15 prosecutions for Crimes Involving drugs, guns, and violence. All in less than six months. In light of garlands past focus on intimidating appearance who were concerned about school boards, i fear there is a political element to the decisions of focus on this area. This administration does not want to talk about the failed policies of democrat cities where crime is spiking. But a Law Enforcement agency like the department of justice should not be participating in those sorts of politics. The department of justice is the highest Law Enforcement agency in america. It must focus its priorities on challenges facing america today. That means addressing the Violent Crime. If we could only reduce the homicide numbers to where they were before the defund the police movement, we can save as many as 6000 lives per year. Because that is how much it has spiked in the last two years. Yet, there is no murder surge task force. No task force for combating the 20 year high in police killings, no carjacking task force and certainly no task force for the threats of arson against Crisis Pregnancy Centers in churches in the wake of the jobs decision. The department of justice is not choosing what to convene task forces on levels of violence. Where choosing a political message. I believe that well have a roll consequence on the safe the and lives of Many Americans. I yield. Thank you senator grassley. This Judiciary Committee has held hearings on Law Enforcement officer safety, mass shootings, msa terrorism, protecting children from gun violence, carjackings, hate crimes, inducing violence and violence against women and more, including people oversight hearings of Law Enforcement agencies. Have another oversight hearing tomorrow with the director of the fbi schedule. The subject of this hearing as threats to election workers. The first pen we welcome the assistant attorney general. The assistant attorney General Police is a longtime federal prosecutor who oversees the Justice Department Criminal Division between the threat task force. We also welcome ken wyman kim wyman. She is a republican who served from weird nearly a decade as a secretary of state so she knows this field very well. Welcome her. I will ask them both to be sworn in. Then, and where aunt of questioning from the senators, of to five minutes each and then our second panel will be recognized. If you would please stand. Do you swear on the testimony you are about to give before this committee is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . The record affirmed the witness answered in the affirmative. I will allow you to start. Make sure your microphone is on. Good morning trim durbin, Ranking Member grassley and members of the committee. Thank you for allowing me to appear before you today to discuss election threats. My name is kenneth polit. I am testifying today on behalf of the apartment. The department of justice is committed to addressing threats to the state and local Election Community. The courageous and dedicated men and women who are responsible for administering the most fundamental aspects of our democracy, our elections, should not face threats for merely doing their jobs. These victims often volunteers, our country and across the political spectrum. These are people we have sworn to protect. Through direct engagement with the elect committee, training of our separate federal, state, and local Law Enforcement agents, Grant Funding for enhanced Election Security, and federal criminal prosecution of electionrelated threats where appropriate. The department is working intently to prepare and protect our Election Officials and their staff is being approached the 2022 midterm elections. Last june, the department lost the Election Threat Task force to combat the sharp rise in reports of threats received by the Election Committee during and following the 2020 election cycle. Comprised of the divisions Public Integrity and computer crime and intellectual property sectors, the Civil Rights Division and voting and criminal rights sections in the counterterrorism sections and the fbis criminal investigative division, the department of Homeland Security, cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency, and the u. S. Postal inspection service. The task force you next the four most nasty foremost sectors across the government the for emost sectors of government across the spectrum. We have engaged with the Election Committee to hear directly from Election Officials and workers regarding the types of threatening communications they received. The challenges such communications pose to such elected administrations and their greatest concerns and needs with respect combating physical threats. These conversations are critical positioning the task force to effectively address threats to the Election Community and to identify and respond to trends in this area. In response to the threat needs of the Election Community, the task force has shared information about the types of communication that Election Officials and workers have reported nationwide. The Legal Standards that apply, and how determinations are made on whether or not to open a criminal investigation, as well as, investigative steps undertaken in these matters. He task force has also provided detailed guidance through the Election Community on best practices for memorializing threats and reporting such communication to the fbi has encouraged broad reporting and has provided such Contact Information for each of the 56 fbi election crime coordinators and field offices throughout the country. The task force is committed to reviewing and assessing all reported threatening and harassing communications, directed at the Election Community, to identify where federal criminal prosecution is appropriate and permissible. Although the vast majority of communications directed of election workers, as sensible as they may be, will not constitute true threats from federal prosecution due to the robust protections afforded to political by the First Amendment, we are committed to following the facts and the law. Political considerations do not and should not play any role in any prosecutorial decision made by the department. Threats to the Election Community remain a National Public safety issue, requiring a National Response regardless of politics. The trauma experienced in this commun

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