Arizona state senator indicted in fake electors scheme and expelled state legislator are tapped for RNC positions

By Veronica Stracqualursi and Rashard Rose, CNN

(CNN) — A state senator who was charged in Arizona’s 2020 election subversion case and a former state representative who was expelled from office have been elected as Republican National committee members for the Grand Canyon State.

State Sen. Jake Hoffman and former state Rep. Liz Harris were elected to their new roles at the Arizona GOP convention over the weekend.

Hoffman was one of 11 individuals recently indicted in Arizona in the so-called fake electors scheme over their efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss.

Harris was removed from the GOP-controlled state House in April 2023 for ethics violations resulting from her inviting an insurance agent, who made unsubstantiated claims against public officials, including Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, to publicly testify before state lawmakers. Harris had also pushed the QAnon conspiracy theory and baseless theories about the 2020 and 2022 elections, according to local reports.

CNN has reached out to the Arizona Republican Party and the RNC for comment.

“I’m humbled and honored to have been elected as the next RNC National Committeeman for Arizona!” Hoffman said on social media Saturday.

Harris said Monday on social media that her focus “shall be on winning elections with a strong emphasis on uniting” the Republican Party “through real, effective election reform!”

Hoffman’s selection comes just days after a grand jury in Arizona handed up an indictment against the Trump allies over their 2020 election subversion efforts.

As CNN previously reported, Hoffman sent a two-page letter to Vice President Mike Pence on January 5, 2021, asking him to order that Arizona’s electors not be decided by the popular vote of the citizens, but instead by the members of the state Legislature.

“It is in this late hour, with urgency, that I respectfully ask that you delay the certification of election results for Arizona during the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021, and seek clarification from the Arizona state legislature as to which slate of electors are proper and accurate,” Hoffman wrote at the time.

In interviews, Hoffman repeatedly argued that no electors be sent at all because “we don’t have certainty in the outcome of our election” and called to contest Democrat electors if they were sent.

Following news of his indictment last week, Hoffman said in a statement that he was “innocent of any crime,” adding, “I will vigorously defend myself, and I look forward to the day when I am vindicated of this disgusting political persecution by the judicial process.”

The Arizona Republican Party also condemned the indictment, calling it a “blatant and unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial power.”

Boris Epshteyn, a former White House aide who remains one of Trump’s closest advisers; former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; and Rudy Giuliani were among the others indicted, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

While Trump is not among those charged in Arizona, the details in the indictment suggest he is “Unindicted Coconspirator 1.”

During its weekend convention, the Arizona GOP also passed a resolution to censure Pence and former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley for “their dereliction of duty of refusing to support President Donald J. Trump and by default supporting the democrats.”

Pence, who dropped out of the Republican presidential primary in the fall, said last month that he “cannot in good conscience” endorse Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee. Haley exited the Republican presidential race after Super Tuesday in March without throwing her support behind the former president. She instead called on him to “earn” the support of voters who backed her in the primary.

The resolution passed 917-222, according to results posted on the Arizona GOP website.

This story and headline have been updated with additional information.

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