By — Hannah Grabenstein Hannah Grabenstein Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/who-is-al-schmidt-and-why-did-he-testify-in-the-jan-6-hearings Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Who is Al Schmidt and why did he testify in the Jan. 6 hearings? Politics Jun 13, 2022 1:20 PM EDT Al Schmidt, a former commissioner for the city of Philadelphia, testified June 13 before the House Jan. 6 committee about his experience with the Trump campaign’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election. At the time of the election, Schmidt was the only Republican member for the commission, which oversees the city’s elections. Philadelphia was one of the targets of former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the election was fraudulent. READ MORE: Who are the witnesses testifying at the Jan. 6 hearings? Among Trump’s claims was the suggestion that 8,000 dead voters cast ballots in Philadelphia. In the committee’s June 13 hearing, California Rep. Zoe Lofgren asked Schmidt about that claim. “Not only was there not evidence of 8,000 dead voters voting in Pennsylvania, there wasn’t evidence of eight,” Schmidt said. “We took seriously every case that was referred to us. No matter how fantastical or how absurd, we took every one of them seriously, even these.” Schmidt also provided redacted threats he received after Trump tweeted about him, saying Schmidt refused to investigate “a mountain of corruption.” The threats had been general in nature before Trump’s tweet, Schmidt said. After the tweet, they were highly specific and incredibly threatening, he added. “The threats became much more specific, much more graphic, and included not just me by name, but included members of my family, by name, ages, our address, pictures of our home – every bit of detail you can imagine,” Schmidt said. For more on the key players in the Jan. 6 committee hearings, click here. By — Hannah Grabenstein Hannah Grabenstein @hgrabenstein
Al Schmidt, a former commissioner for the city of Philadelphia, testified June 13 before the House Jan. 6 committee about his experience with the Trump campaign’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election. At the time of the election, Schmidt was the only Republican member for the commission, which oversees the city’s elections. Philadelphia was one of the targets of former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the election was fraudulent. READ MORE: Who are the witnesses testifying at the Jan. 6 hearings? Among Trump’s claims was the suggestion that 8,000 dead voters cast ballots in Philadelphia. In the committee’s June 13 hearing, California Rep. Zoe Lofgren asked Schmidt about that claim. “Not only was there not evidence of 8,000 dead voters voting in Pennsylvania, there wasn’t evidence of eight,” Schmidt said. “We took seriously every case that was referred to us. No matter how fantastical or how absurd, we took every one of them seriously, even these.” Schmidt also provided redacted threats he received after Trump tweeted about him, saying Schmidt refused to investigate “a mountain of corruption.” The threats had been general in nature before Trump’s tweet, Schmidt said. After the tweet, they were highly specific and incredibly threatening, he added. “The threats became much more specific, much more graphic, and included not just me by name, but included members of my family, by name, ages, our address, pictures of our home – every bit of detail you can imagine,” Schmidt said. For more on the key players in the Jan. 6 committee hearings, click here.