A Michigan state lawmaker and the chairwoman of a committee who last week heard unproven complaints of voter fraud in the 2020 election says she has received racist and threatening voicemails in recent days.
State Rep. Cynthia A. Johnson, D-Detroit, is the Democratic chair of Michigan's House Oversight Committee. In a series of Facebook posts, she shared some of the threatening messages she's received in recent days.
Warning: The messages and accompanying Facebook posts include explicit and racist language.
"Honey, how dare you bully witnesses on the stand. Your name and phone number are out there now," one person said in a voicemail "You should be swinging from a f***ing rope you Democrat."
"Dems are going down, especially big-lip n****** like you," the person continued.
Johnson posted the audio on Facebook.
"Wow! Listen to this coward!!" Johnson wrote.
Johnson said she would not be intimidated, and added that she would continue to share the racist and intimidating messages she received publicly.
"I just want all these people to know I'm not changing my number. And with technology, you know I share!" she wrote.
Last week, Johnson's committee hosted a hearing regarding unproven claims of voter fraud from President Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and his witnesses. During the hearing, Giuliani and witnesses continually alleged that the election results in Detroit weren't accurate but offered little evidence to support their claims.
Several witnesses at the hearing claimed they saw irregularities and fraud while working at a Detroit convention center, where ballots were being processed following the election. There is no evidence that proves those claims, and judges have ruled against lawsuits that have argued the same claims brought in front of the committee.
Giuliani also claimed, as he has for weeks, that thousands of votes were cast illegally but offered no evidence to support his claim.
In fact, last week, Attorney General Bill Barr — one of Trump's staunchest supporters among his cabinent members — said that the DOJ has not yet seen evidence of widespread fraud that would change the election results.
Michigan has certified the results of the November election, with president-elect Joe Biden winning by more than 150,000 votes.
This story was originally published by Max White on WXYZ in Detroit.
