The chairman of the House committee investigating the terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 is speaking out for the first time publicly—saying that based on his testimony, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is a crucial witness who “clearly stood his ground” against pressures from the White House. 

Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, says Raffensperger spoke in depth about the now-infamous phone call from then-President Donald Trump, despite the pressure for him to “find” votes and overturn Joe Biden’s win in Georgia. 

Raffensperger defended the election system in Georgia and stood his ground against the tidal wave of lies and misinformation designed to discredit Biden’s win. “In spite of the pressure from President Trump, Mark Meadows, and others, he has steadfastly held to that position,” Thompson said.

Tuesday, the House voted to hold Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with its investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

On Dec. 22, around the same time that Raffensperger and his family were receiving innumerable death threats, Meadows paid an unexpected visit to Georgia during the audit of absentee ballots. He was inquiring about the signature validation process. 

Georgia’s Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs intercepted Meadows, explaining he wasn’t allowed in the audit room.

Additionally, Meadows at one point texted Raffensperger from a Gmail account. 

It would be a month later on Jan. 2 of 2021 when Trump would call Raffensperger, with Meadows leading off the conversation. “Okay. All right. Mr. President, everyone is on the line. This is Mark Meadows, the chief of staff,” Meadows said. 

The committee’s debut public hearing unfolded this July when a handful of police officers who fought off the mob at the Capitol for hours testified about their harrowing experiences. Starting early next year, the Jan. 6 committee is expected to recommence its public hearings.

The probe thus far has been kept tightly under wraps as investigators have spent months piecing together how the event was organized and financed, who was involved in its coordination, and just how many people inside of Trump’s orbit may have worked with the 45th president to propagate his pervasive but widely debunked lie that he won the 2020 election.

Raffensperger is running for reelection in 2022. One of his challengers is Rep. Jody Hice, who once said that Trump would have won if Georgia elections were “fair.” He has also falsely accused Raffensperger of sending 700,000 ballot applications to “illegal voters.” 

“I believe if there was a fair election, it would be a different outcome,” Hice told CNN when asked if he believed Trump won Georgia. “Absolutely.”

“I do not believe for one moment that Georgia is a blue state,” he added.

Thompson says that between Trump’s call and Meadows’ visit, Raffensperger was facing unbelievable pressure.

“Well, obviously if the President called him if Mark Meadows went to Georgia if countless other people communicated with him, then clearly he stood his ground and he’s a principal person,” Thompson said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And because of that, he’s being criticized by people because he didn’t cheat.”