Newt Gingrich Pushed Election Fraud Ads to 'Arouse Anger': Jan. 6 Committee

Former GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich pushed advertisements that falsely claimed the 2020 election was "stolen" from former President Donald Trump to "arouse anger," according to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, announced on Thursday that Gingrich was being asked to testify and "provide information for the committee's investigation into the violence of January 6th and its causes." A committee press release said that Gingrich had "pushed messages designed to incite anger among voters even after Georgia election officials had faced intimidation and threats of violence."

"Information obtained by the Select Committee shows that Mr. Gingrich was in contact with senior advisors to President Trump regarding television advertisements that relied upon and amplified known false claims about fraud in the 2020 election," the release states.

"Evidence obtained by the Select Committee demonstrates Mr. Gingrich's role in spreading misinformation about the election in the days leading up to the December 14, 2020 meeting of the Electoral College," it continues.

A letter sent to Gingrich by Thompson accuses the former Republican lawmaker of spreading "false claims about fraud in the 2020 election" and attempting "to cast doubt on the outcome of the election after voting had already taken place" by consulting on the advertisements.

"Your efforts did not only seek to persuade," Thompson wrote, before quoting an email Gingrich sent to Trump advisers including Jared Kushner concerning revisions to an ad script from December 8, 2020.

"The goal is to arouse the country's anger through new verifiable information the American people have never seen before[.] . . " Gingrich allegedly wrote. "If we inform the American people in a way they find convincing and it arouses their anger[,] they will then bring pressure on legislators and governors."

Thompson said that Gingrich was continuing to "arouse anger" after a Georgia official warned that "the violent threats made against Georgia election officials" in the wake of disproven claims promoting massive voter fraud in the state would cause someone "to get killed."

"Surprisingly, the attack on Congress and the activities prescribed by the Constitution did not even pause your relentless pursuit," Thompson wrote to Gingrich. "On the evening of January 6th, you continued to push efforts to overturn the election results... you appear to have been involved with President Trump's efforts to stop the certification of the election results, even after the attack on the Capitol."

The committee has requested that Gingrich provide "all records" related to communications he had with Trump and his team leading up to January 6, 2021, and submit to a "voluntary transcribed interview" during the week of September 19, 2022.

Newsweek reached out to Gingrich for comment.