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Arizona Republican lawmakers have given wide leeway for people claiming to be election experts to share unsubstantiated or disproven claims in hearings at the Capitol. But GOP legislative leaders raced to distance themselves from Breger's claims and pin blame on Harris. The vote against Harris comes less than a week after Tennessee Republicans voted to expel two black Democrats, a decision that made that state a new front in the battle for the future of American democracy.
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"On a personal note, the only thing we have down here is our word and our integrity, and when that is clearly crossed, when you can no longer count on someone's word and integrity, they can no longer be an effective legislator." The State House Speaker, Rep. Ben Toma (R), said Harris' expulsion was necessary, and that she needed to be held accountable for her bad behavior. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has 10 days to appoint someone to replace Harris. Authorities asked the public to share information about a Phoenix homicide victim named Mohamed Toure on Saturday.
Rep. Liz Harris expelled from Arizona's House of Representatives 12news.com - 12news.com KPNX
Rep. Liz Harris expelled from Arizona's House of Representatives 12news.com.
Posted: Wed, 12 Apr 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Arizona House expels GOP lawmaker over unproven claims
On Tuesday, the House Ethics Committee released a report saying Harris broke ethics rules when she invited a guest that made unsubstantiated claims at a February joint committee hearing. Breger in February spoke at a public hearing in front of lawmakers when she, without evidence, accused numerous Republican and Democratic public officials of laundering money for the Sinaloa Drug Cartel through the use of fraudulent mortgage documents. She also accused the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints of being "integral to the laundering activities." During her Feb. 23 presentation at a hearing organized by Harris, Jaqueline Breger accused a swath of politicians from both parties, judges and public officials of taking bribes from a Mexican drug cartel.
April 12, 2023: Ethics committee concludes Rep. Liz Harris broke Arizona House rules
Harris told The Washington Post ahead of the vote, "I didn't lie and God knows the truth. The truth will come out." Harris did not speak on her own behalf as the House voted to expel her. Only after the House adjourned did a handful of her supporters in the gallery speak out, shouting "shame on you, shame, shame, shame." The notable move to expel Harris, who's pushed baseless claims about the 2020 and 2022 elections, comes as members of the state's Republican Party have in recent years led Arizona to become a hive of election denialism.
Republican Rep. Alexander Kolodin said Harris "made an error in judgement," but expelling her would send the wrong message. According to state law, the Legislative District 13 Republican precinct committees will pick three candidates to fill Harris’ seat. Those nominees will go to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which will make the final pick. The Republicans who voted against expelling Harris included many in the Freedom Caucus. Alongside Harris and Chaplik, the Republicans who voted against it include Reps. Neal Carter, David Cook, Gail Griffin, Justin Heap, Rachel Jones, Alexander Kolodin, Cory McGarr, Barbara Parker, Jacqueline Parker, Kevin Payne and Austin Smith. The Arizona House of Representatives voted Wednesday to expel Rep. Liz Harris, R-Chandler.
Lawmakers had accused Ms. Harris of making a mockery of Arizona’s Legislature by inviting Jacqueline Breger, a Scottsdale, Ariz., insurance agent and conspiracy theorist, to testify during a February hearing about election oversight. The House voted 46 to 13 to banish her, easily surpassing the necessary two-thirds threshold. The action was taken after an ethics complaint was filed against Ms. Harris by a Democratic lawmaker. Twenty-nine Democrats joined 17 Republicans to vote for expulsion, while all 13 nay votes came from Republicans, including Ms. Harris. But a video of her testimony in front of election committees exploded on the internet in the days following the hearing.
Both Black Tennessee lawmakers have been reinstated after being expelled by GOP
He said he thought it was appropriate Ethics members make their own decision on the vote to expel Harris and was the only Ethics member who voted against expelling her. As Harris left, the now ex-lawmaker called the ethics report "a lie," and said "God knows the truth." Prior to her expulsion, Harris represented the state's 13th Legislative District, which covers a portion of the East Valley. The Speaker of the State House, Republican Ben Toma, said Harris' expulsion is necessary, and taht she was held accountable for bad behavior. The resolution to expel Harris cites the committee’s findings, which said the first-term lawmaker knew in advance Breger was going to make the criminal allegations and failed to provide the information for review beforehand, in violation of House regulations.
Arizona House Rep. Liz Harris ousted for violating ethics rules
Republican lawmakers run from a motion to censure Rep. Liz Harris for drug cartel smear - The Arizona Republic
Republican lawmakers run from a motion to censure Rep. Liz Harris for drug cartel smear.
Posted: Mon, 06 Mar 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
But the Arizona vote did not carry the same partisan and racial overtones, with widespread and bipartisan condemnation for Harris’s actions. But GOP legislative leaders raced to distance themselves from Breger’s claims and pin blame on Harris. Harris had told the ethics committee she was not aware of what Breger would present to the elections hearing, but the committee received a batch of text messages from an anonymous source that contradicted that claim.
As a result, the ethics panel found that Harris violated House rule number one, which prohibits disorderly behavior that could damage the House’s institutional integrity. “To go down a trail of conspiracy theories that were thrown out of court, it’s very dangerous,” Stahl Hamilton said. The lawmaker’s ouster came a day after the House Ethics Committee determined Harris had engaged in “disorderly behavior” in violation of the chamber’s rules. Harris organized a daylong hearing of the House and Senate elections committees in February. At the end, a Scottsdale insurance agent, Jacqueline Breger, gave a 40-minute presentation alleging without reliable evidence that two women working on behalf of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel used fraudulent mortgage documents to launder money to a range of officials. At the end, a Scottsdale insurance agent, Jacqueline Breger, gave a 40-minute presentation alleging without reliable evidence that two women working on behalf of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel used fraudulent mortgage documents to launder money to a range of officials.
Harris was elected in November 2022 from the 13th legislative district, which includes much of Chandler, Arizona. It's the second time in six years the House has voted to kick out one of its own. The ethics report also found that Harris lied to the panel when she claimed she had no idea Breger would make such wild accusations. That was problematic enough to merit the ethics investigation and expulsion, according to House Speaker Ben Toma, a Republican and one of the lawmakers falsely accused of criminal activity.
Harris, formerly R-District 13 in the East Valley, was expelled after a legislative ethics committee report found she damaged "the institutional integrity of the House" after she invited Jacqueline Breger to publicly speak before a group of lawmakers. The Republican-controlled Arizona House of Representatives voted to expel one of their own Wednesday morning, a day after a report found now-former Rep. Liz Harris committed "disorderly behavior" in inviting a speaker who spread a baseless election conspiracy theory. Rep. Liz Harris, a prominent supporter of discredited election conspiracies, was kicked out of the Legislature in a bipartisan vote after the presentation by an Arizona insurance agent. The lawmaker's ouster came a day after the House Ethics Committee determined Harris had engaged in "disorderly behavior" in violation of the chamber's rules. The House Ethics Committee (composed of three Republican representatives and two Democrats) unanimously agreed, saying that Harris violated House rules by inviting Jacqueline Breger to that February meeting. In addition, they said Harris lied when she claimed she had no idea Breger would say what she did.
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