Arizona Republican Ousted by Her Own Party Casts a Warning to GOP

The GOP-led Arizona state House voted to expel a Republican lawmaker Wednesday for violating the chamber's ethics rules.

Liz Harris, who represented Arizona's 13th District, faced backlash in February after inviting a conspiracy theorist to a joint committee hearing involving members of the Senate Elections and House Municipal Oversight and Elections panels. The witness, Jacqueline Breger, baselessly claimed before the committees that state public officials, including Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, were taking bribes from drug cartels.

Prior to Wednesday's vote, the Arizona House Ethics Committee released a report that it found Harris had violated Rule 1, which states that members of the House "may punish its members for disorderly behavior," including expulsion with a two-thirds majority.

Harris was expelled by a 46-13 vote. All 28 Democratic members voted in favor of the motion and were joined by 18 of 31 Republican colleagues.

While leaving the state house Wednesday, a handful of reporters followed Harris to her vehicle, asking for comment on the chamber's decision. In a video of the exchange posted by KPNX reporter Michael Doudna, Harris tells reporters, "I stand on honesty and integrity."

"The report is a lie," she added. "God knows the truth."

Doudna also asked Harris if she has a message for her fellow Republicans, to which the ex-lawmaker responds, "This was an example of how you need to toe the line."

"If you don't toe the line, this is what happens," she said.

The Arizona House Ethics Committee, made up of three Republicans and two Democrats, unanimously agreed in its report against Harris, saying that her decision to invite Breger to the committee hearing "violated the inherent obligation to protect the integrity of the House."

The Ethics Committee also rejected previous testimony from Harris, who said she was unaware that Breger would make the criminal allegations against public officials before the joint committee. The report, however, pointed to text messages exchanged between Harris and Breger that show the ex-lawmaker was "not taken by surprise" by Breger's perfomance.

Following the presentation, Republican Arizona Speaker of the House Ben Toma said in a statement that Breger's speech was "disgraceful fringe theater," adding, "I'm not alone in believing that it was irresponsible and bad judgment for Ms. Harris to invite a person to present unsubstantiated and defamatory allegations in a legislative forum."

Arizona House Democratic leader Andrés Cano released a statement on Wednesday after Harris was expelled from office, saying, "This is a sad day for our institution. But a necessary day."

"Misinformation, lies, and conspiracies are not harmless, and it's not just politics," Cano continued. "The defamatory allegations that Representative Harris invited her guest speaker to make are patently absurd, but there are many people who believe them."

"The integrity of our institution was damaged in that moment," he continued. "That damage continues to accumulate, and for that there must be accountability."

Newsweek has contacted the Republican Party of Arizona for comment.

Harris was elected to office in November's midterm elections, but quickly made a controversial name for herself after stating that she would not cast her vote for any bill unless the 2022 election was redone. According to the site Bill Track 50, however, Harris cast her vote on dozens of bills despite the state election not being held again.

Several failed Republican candidates have made repeated claims of voter fraud in the past election, including former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who is continuing to challenge her loss against Hobbs in court.