Jan. 6 committee hearings [Day 4] | Arizona House Speaker testifies

Arizona Republican Rusty Bowers is scheduled to be a key witness when the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection resumes on Tuesday. The focus will be on how former President Donald Trump and his allies vigorously pressured officials in key battleground states with schemes to reject ballots or entire state tallies to upend the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Bowers spoke to The Associated Press after he arrived in Washington on Monday afternoon. He will be questioned about a phone call he got from Trump and attorney Rudy Giuliani in the weeks after the November 2020 election where Giuliani floated a proposal to replace Arizona’s Biden electors by having the state’s Legislature instead choose those committed to voting for Trump.

Bowers refused, saying the scheme was illegal and unconstitutional. In an interview last year, he said he told the president he would not break the law to help him gain the presidency.

He revealed a second call from Trump on Monday, saying the president phoned again on Dec. 4, 2020, but did not pressure him. He said Trump mainly made small talk, asking about his family and the upcoming holidays.

"But then he said, ‘I want to call you to tell you that I remember what you said the first time.’" Bowers said. "And I’m presuming it was about when I told him I wouldn’t. That I supported him, I walked for him, I campaigned with him. But I wouldn’t do anything illegal for him."

Bowers said efforts by Trump’s backers have harmed the nation, undercut trust in elections and the right of people to vote their conscience.

"I just think it is horrendous. It’s terrible," Bowers said. "The result of throwing the pebble in the pond, the reverberations across the pond, have, I think, been very destructive."

Bowers said he has not watched the committee’s hearings, but did see some of the video clips showing the rampage at the Capitol. He said it sickened him watching people who supported Trump attacking police, including a man who had protested at the Arizona Capitol.

"I’m appalled at what I saw," Bowers said, "I don’t mind their having these hearings. I don’t mind. I think it illuminates something we need to see big time, and take stock of ourselves. And I hope it would sober us."

STORY: https://bit.ly/3OtJrcn

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