LANSING, Mich. — Michigan state Sen. Ed McBroom, the Republican who led an investigation that upheld the results of the 2020 presidential election, revealed Thursday he rejected a request to appear publicly before the U.S. House committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
In a speech on the Senate floor, McBroom of Vulcan said the U.S. House's Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol had "demanded" he participate in a public hearing under oath.
"'Every member of this body should take offense to this notion that we should be expected to present our work to the federal government," McBroom told his Senate colleagues Thursday morning.
"I don't work for you," the senator added, referring to the U.S. Congress. "I work for and only answer to the Michigan Senate and the people of the sovereign state of Michigan."
McBroom is chairman of the Senate Oversight Committee, which released a report in June 2021, finding "no evidence of widespread or systematic fraud" in the 2020 presidential election.
The panel's findings refuted many unproven claims that were advanced by supporters of former President Donald Trump to try to discount the election's result in the battleground state. Democrat Joe Biden won Michigan by more than 154,000 votes or nearly 3 percentage points.
The U.S. House's select committee has been investigating efforts by Trump's backers to try to undermine the election's outcome. The Detroit News previously reported the committee has explored interactions between some Michigan Republicans and Trump's White House.
In February 2020, the committee issued a subpoena to former Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox. A month earlier, in January, the committee issued subpoenas to two of the 16 Michigan Republicans, Kathy Berden and Mayra Rodriguez, who signed and submitted a false certificate claiming to be the state's official presidential electors.
McBroom disclosed Thursday that he had received a subpoena from the U.S. House select committee in December and answered "preliminary questions." The Senate Oversight Committee's report was not related to what occurred in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, McBroom contended.
In an interview, McBroom said the U.S. House select committee wanted him to appear at a public hearing on Monday or in the following days. The committee is expected to examine Trump's efforts to influence state officials during upcoming sessions.
After attempting to get McBroom to appear before the committee for a public hearing, the committee later rescinded the "demand," the lawmaker said Thursday.
The select committee began holding a string of high-profile public hearings last week.
