Michigan House cancels voting session after Giuliani test

LANSING » The Michigan House canceled its voting session scheduled for Tuesday following an announcement that Rudy Giuliani tested positive for the coronavirus just days after he testified before lawmakers in Lansing without wearing a mask.

President Donald Trump’s personal attorney spoke for hours Wednesday before a Republican-led committee investigating alleged election irregularities. He pushed legislators to ignore the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s 154,000-vote win over Trump and appoint electors, despite GOP legislative leaders having said they cannot do that under state law. U.S. Attorney General William Barr says no evidence of widespread fraud has been uncovered that could change the outcome.

“Multiple representatives have requested time to receive results from recent COVID-19 tests before returning to session, out of an abundance of caution,” House Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Levering Republican who met with Giuliani before the hearing, said in a statement Monday. “The CDC guidelines would not consider them close contacts with anyone, even if Mayor Giuliani had been positive, but they want to go above and beyond in the interest of public safety. With the recent spike in COVID cases nationwide, this makes sense.”

Chatfield, who was being tested, said several other House members needed to miss Tuesday’s session for non-virus reasons. Votes will be taken on Wednesday and Thursday in the second-to-last week of the twoyear session.