Newt Gingrich new target of Jan. 6 committee

On Thursday, investigators on the House January 6 Committee sent a letter to former house speaker and Donald Trump ally Newt Gingrich, requesting testimony on his role in spreading distrust about the results of the election.

"The Committee has obtained information indicating that you have knowledge about former President Donald J. Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and we write to seek your voluntary cooperation," said the letter. "Some of the information that we have obtained includes email messages that you exchanged with senior advisors to President Trump and others, including Jared Kushner and Jason Miller, in which you provided detailed input into television advertisements and relied upon false claims about fraud in the 2020 election."

"Among the numerous emails you exchanged regarding purported election fraud, you wrote on December 8, 2020, urging Donald Trump's campaign to air advertisements promoting the false narrative that election workers had smuggled suitcases containing fake ballots at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia," the letter continued. "This email shows that you provided line edits to the scripts used to produce television advertisements and suggested that the advertisements include a "call-to-action" of pressuring state officials" — specifically requesting that the ads address the "suitcase scandal."

According to the letter, the committee also has knowledge that Gingrich was "involved" in the scheme to introduce fake slates of electors for Trump in states that Biden won.

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"A full and accurate accounting of what happened on January 6th is critical to the Select Committee's legislative recommendations," concluded the letter. "And the American people deserve to understand the relevant details of what led to the attack."

The fake elector scheme is separately being investigated by Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis, who is also looking into Trump's calls pressuring state officials to "find" extra votes.