Jun 21, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Arizona House speaker says GOP Rep. Biggs pressed him on decertifying electors

Andrew Solender

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Rusty Bowers, the Republican speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, on Tuesday testified to the Jan. 6 select committee that Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) urged him to support decertifying the state's electors.

Why it matters: The testimony is the latest in a series of revelations in recent months about the level of involvement by House Republicans — and Biggs in particular — in former President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Driving the news: Bowers was asked by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who led Tuesday's hearing focused on Trump's pressure campaign on state officials, if he received a call from Biggs on the morning of Jan. 6.

"I did," Bowers testified. "He asked if I would sign on ... to a letter sent from my state and/or that I would support the decertification of the electors."
"I said I would not," Bowers added.

The backdrop: Documents and testimony already obtained by the committee highlight Biggs, the former chair of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, as a central player in Trump's schemes.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified that Biggs was among at least 10 House Republicans who met with Meadows about plans to overturn the election on Dec. 21, 2020.

The panel's subpoena of Biggs also cited texts Biggs sent to Meadows on recruiting legislators to help overturn the election, allegations he helped plan a Jan. 6 rally and his reported efforts to receive a presidential pardon in the aftermath of Jan. 6.

Biggs' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Axios.

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Arizona House speaker says GOP Rep. Biggs pressed him on decertifying electors

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