Arizona House speaker refutes Trump's statement against him during Jan. 6 testimony

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) testified before the Jan. 6 select committee on Tuesday, detailing the pressure he was under from both former President Donald Trump and his allies to help reverse the results of the 2020 election, as well as the harassment he received when he refused to comply.
At the start of his appearance, however, Bowers refuted a statement Trump had released just hours prior that called Bowers a "RINO," or Republican In Name Only, and claimed Bowers had told the former president he won Arizona and that the election was "rigged."
"I did have a conversation with the president," Bowers told the committee. "That certainly isn't it, but there were parts of it that are true, but there are parts that are not."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
When asked by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) if he told Trump the election was rigged, Bowers replied, "Anywhere, anyone, anytime has said that I said that the election was rigged, that would not be true." It's also "false" that he told Trump he won in Arizona, he continued.
Later, the Arizona House speaker recounted some of the "disturbing" threats he and his family received after refusing to bend to the president's requests, which included protests outside his home and a deluge of messages at his work.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Could Democrats lose the New Jersey governor’s race?
Today’s Big Question Democrat Mikie Sherrill stumbles against Republican Jack Ciattarelli
-
‘Porsche’s luxury credentials are now hanging by a thread’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Choose your own wellness adventure in Greater Palm Springs
The Week Recommends Hit the spa, try a sound bath or take a hike
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia James
Speed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
Speed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats