Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers testified Tuesday that U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs had pressured him to decertify the state’s Electoral College slate, which was chosen to back Democrat Joe Biden.
Mr. Bowers, a Republican, told the Jan. 6 special committee that he objected to the congressman’s request, citing his oath to the Constitution.
“I said I would not,” Mr. Bowers said of the appeal from the Arizona Republican congressman, which was made on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021.
Mr. Biggs, who formerly chaired the conservative House Freedom Caucus, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has put out several statements attacking the committee and its investigation.
“The January 6 committee is nothing more than a partisan sham perpetuated by Democrats,” Mr. Biggs said in a tweet.
Mr. Bowers also recalled conversations he had with lawyers Rudolph W. Giuliani and John Eastman, both representing then-President Trump, about rampant voter fraud, recalling that Mr. Giuliani alleged that hundreds of thousands of dead people and illegal immigrants cast ballots in the 2020 election.
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In a phone call with Mr. Trump himself, Mr. Bowers said he told the former president that he made a commitment to defend the Constitution and going against it would break his oath.
“You are asking me to do something against my oath, and I will not break my oath,” Mr. Bowers said.
Mr. Bowers was joined Tuesday before the panel by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, as well as Georgia elections official Gabriel Sterling.
The hearing marks the fourth the committee has had this month, focusing Tuesday on Mr. Trump’s campaign to pressure state and local officials to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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