Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey told congressional investigators “the pressure was real and the expectations were, for the most part, unambiguous,” in the run-up to Michigan’s certification of the 2020 election.
Activists wanted Michigan’s Republican-led legislature to appoint its own slate of electors to certify the election in favor of then-president Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence. Shirkey, however, said he was never on board with the scheme, nor did he believe the unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud.
The committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol released the transcript of their interview with Shirkey Tuesday, days after the committee released its final, 845-page report on that day and the months-long attempt to undo the result of the 2020 election.
Much of what’s covered in the transcript has either been previously made public or was included in the committee’s report. But the transcript does provide some insight into Shirkey’s experience at the White House and in the weeks before the election was certified on Dec. 14, 2020.
Though Shirkey has previously trafficked in conspiracy theories regarding Jan. 6 and other issues, he made clear to investigators he remained skeptical of the unsubstantiated claims that swirled in the wake of the 2020 election.
Shirkey and then-House Speaker Lee Chatfield had been personally invited by then-President Donald Trump, with little notice, for a meeting in the Oval Office Nov. 20.
He...
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