An Arizona state senator under indictment for involvement in a fake elector scheme and a former state legislator expelled from office are being appointed to Republican National Committee roles.
State senator Jake Hoffman and former representative Liz Harris were chosen for new positions at the Arizona GOP convention during the weekend.
Hoffman was one of the eleven people who recently faced charges in Arizona for their involvement in the alleged "fake electors scheme", trying to overturn Donald Trump's 2020 election defeat.
Harris was taken out of the Republican-governed state House in April 2023 due to ethics violations resulting from inviting an insurance agent, who made unsubstantiated accusations against public officials, including Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, to publicly testify before legislators. She had also promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory and baseless assumptions about the 2020 and 2022 elections, according to local news.
CNN contacted the Arizona Republican Party and the RNC for comment.
"I'm filled with gratitude and joy to learn that I've been elected as Arizona's next RNC National Committeeman!" Hoffman wrote on his social media account on Saturday.
In a Monday post on her social media platform, Harris stated, "My priority will be in helping win elections while focusing on unifying the Republican Party through effective election reform!"
Hoffman's election occurred just a short while after a grand jury in Arizona issued an indictment against the Trump associates for their 2020 election undermining attempts.
Prior to this, Hoffman sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence on January 5, 2021, asking him not to have Arizona's electors decided by the public vote but the state legislature.
"It is in this critical moment that I humbly request that you halt the certification of the election results for Arizona during the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021, and inquire about the suitable and accurate slate of electors from the Arizona state legislature," Hoffman stated in his letter.
In interviews, Hoffman asserted that no electors should be sent as there was "no assurance of the election outcome", and suggested that Democrat electors should be contested if they were sent.
After learning of his indictment, Hoffman declared his innocence in a statement and stated, "I will energetically defend myself, and I eagerly look forward to being cleared of this objectionable political persecution by the judicial process."
The Arizona Republican Party also criticised the indictment, calling it a "heinous and exceptional misuse of prosecutorial power".
Other people including Boris Epshteyn, a former White House aide who is still close to Trump; former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Rudy Giuliani were also among those charged, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Although Trump is not among those charged in Arizona, the indictment's details suggest he is "Unindicted Coconspirator 1".
Over the weekend, the Arizona GOP also issued a resolution to reprimand Vice President Mike Pence and former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley for their "failure to support President Donald J. Trump" and thus supporting the Democrats instead.
Pence, who dropped out of the Republican presidential primary in the fall, said last month that he "can't, in good conscience" back Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee. Haley stopped her presidential campaign after Super Tuesday in March and demanded that Trump earn the support of those who've supported her in the election.
The resolution was passed by a count of 917-222, as mentioned on the Arizona GOP website.
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Source: edition.cnn.com
