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."
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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.
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