Pa. Republican lawmakers vacation to Arizona for GOP election audit
Story by JONATHAN J. COOPER, Affiliated Push
PHOENIX (AP) — A few Pennsylvania lawmakers will be in Arizona Wednesday to check out the state Senate GOP’s partisan audit of the 2020 election.
They are the most up-to-date Republicans to make a pilgrimage to Phoenix, Ground Zero in the “stop the steal” movement’s push to obtain assistance for the far-fetched conspiracy theories suggesting the election was stolen from previous President Donald Trump.
U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz cheered the audit at a rally just outside the house Phoenix final thirty day period. The future day, many prominent Trump supporters and conspiracy promoters ended up advertised as speakers at a Phoenix megachurch. Enrique Tarrio, chief of the Proud Boys extremist group, recently posted a quick online video of himself at the Arizona Capitol.
Political pilgrimages are almost nothing new to Arizona, in which Republican politicians have long liked photograph ops in front of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. But now, the attract is the Arizona Point out Fairgrounds, internet site of a former basketball arena the place a Trump supporter who has promoted election conspiracies is overseeing a hand recount of 2.1 million ballots from Maricopa County.
The most current guests are Pennsylvania Sens. Doug Mastriano and Cris Dush, and Rep. Rob Kauffman. They’ll meet up with with Arizona legislators at the Capitol right before touring the web-site and receiving a briefing from the auditors, in accordance to a terse statement from the audit workforce Tuesday. None responded to interview requests on Tuesday.
As Trump and his allies claimed devoid of proof last calendar year that his Arizona decline was marred by fraud, the Arizona Senate GOP utilized its subpoena ability to get entry to all ballots, counting equipment and difficult drives full of election data in Maricopa County, property to Phoenix and 60% of Arizona’s voters. They handed all of it more than to a team led by Cyber Ninjas, a small consulting organization with no prior election encounter for a hand recount and examination of vote-counting equipment and details.
The exertion will not transform President Joe Biden’s victory, and election gurus have pointed to important flaws in the course of action. But it’s grow to be a design for Republicans in other states hoping to change up evidence supporting conspiracy theories.
“It’s my perception that Arizona will be the launch pad for elections audits and election integrity initiatives all about this wonderful country,” Gaetz said. He stated the swing states the place Trump misplaced in 2020.
Greene reported the audit was the explanation she and Gaetz selected Mesa, a Phoenix suburb, for the next quit on their tour of The usa Initial rallies.
“Matt said, ‘You been next that Arizona audit?’” Greene explained. “I mentioned, ‘Yeah I have been adhering to it.’ He explained, ‘Lets go to Arizona.’ I mentioned, ‘Count me in.’”
Mastriano has develop into a one-male drive in conservative politics in Pennsylvania, foremost anti-mask protests last 12 months, pushing to overturn Trump’s reelection loss and demonstrating up outdoors the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot.
In November, Mastriano arranged a listening to in Gettysburg that featured Rudy Giuliani and a cellphone call look by Trump in which the president claimed the election was rigged and urged state lawmakers to overturn the consequence.
All three viewing Pennsylvania lawmakers were between the 64 Republican legislators who signed a letter inquiring the state’s congressional delegation to item to Pennsylvania’s electoral school votes getting cast for Biden.
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Affiliated Push writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed.
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