Committee probes Trump push on states to flip vote
WASHINGTON: Arizona’s top lawmaker testified on Tuesday about the intense pressure Donald Trump piled on him to overturn the 2020 election, as congressional hearings into the former president’s bid to cling to power after his defeat entered a third week.
Members of the committee probing the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol have spent much of June setting out their initial findings that Mr Trump led a multipronged conspiracy to overturn the election, culminating in the insurrection in Washington.
The committee said in its fourth hearing that Mr Trump and his allies were personally involved in pushing Republican-controlled legislatures to flip the results in several swing states, away from Joe Biden and into Mr Trump’s column.
Rusty Bowers, speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, testified about pressure to reverse his state’s results, from Mr Trump and lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Mr Bowers said Mr Trump demanded a hearing at the Arizona State Capitol to investigate allegations of election fraud but Mr Bowers responded that the evidence didn’t warrant a hearing.
“You are asking me to do something against my oath, and I will not break my oath,” he told Mr Trump, according to his testimony.
Mr Bowers said he asked Mr Giuliani “on multiple occasions” for evidence of his stolen election claims. He told committee members Mr Giuliani said “we’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence.”
The official testified that he received 20,000 emails and tens of thousands of voicemails as the Trump campaign ratcheted up the pressure, making it impossible to work.