On Wednesday, the GOP-led Arizona state House in a bipartisan vote expelled Republican lawmaker Liz Harris for violating the chamber’s ethics rules.
Harris represented Arizona’s 13th District and came under fire after inviting a conspiracy theorist to speak at a joint committee hearing involving members of the Senate Elections and House Municipal Oversight and Elections panels. The witness, Jacqueline Breger had alleged that many state public officials, including Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, had accepted bribes from Mexico drug cartels. These accusations were completely baseless and there was no evidence provided to support them.
Prior to the vote which led to her expulsion, the Arizona House Ethics Committee released a report in which they noted that Harris had violated Rule 1, which dictates that House members “may punish its members for disorderly behavior.” In order for members to be expelled a two-thirds majority needs to vote for their expulsion.
Harris was expelled in a 46-13 vote, with all 28 Democrats and 18 out of 31 Republicans voting for her removal.
As Harris was exiting the chamber and heading to her car, a number of reporters followed her asking her questions. In a video of the exchange posted by KPNX reporter Michael Doudna, Harris claims that the “report is a lie” adding that, “I stand on honesty and integrity.”
The Arizona House Ethics Committee is made up of three Republicans and two Democrats all of whom agreed with the report released on Harris.
