Arizona state Rep. Liz Harris expelled over cartel bribing allegations

Republican Arizona state Representative Liz Harris has been expelled following her invitation of a speaker who made unfounded wide-ranging accusations that state officials had accepted bribes from drug cartels. After a unanimous vote by the Republican-dominated House, the expulsion came at the recommendation of the House Ethics Committee, which deemed that Harris’s actions had broken House rules and constituted ‘disorderly conduct damaging the institutional integrity of the House’. The Arizona Mirror reported that the final vote was 46 to 13. 

The decision was taken after Harris invited Jacqueline Breger, a real estate agent, to testify at a February 23rd joint House and Senate elections committee meeting. Breger accused several state officials, including Governor Katie Hobbs, of accepting bribes from Mexican drug cartels. She also accused officials within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a number of legislators of being part of the scheme, stating that the bribes had been laundered through a housing deed scam. Breger did not present evidence to support her allegations and cited her boyfriend’s upcoming book to back her claims. Both Democratic and Republican politicians and various state officials condemned Breger’s presentation, with Republican Senator Ken Bennett stopping Breger over her comments before telling her to remain on-topic. 

However, in subsequent inquiries, the committee found that Harris knew about Breger’s presentation beforehand, in contrast to her claims. It also found that Harris had taken measures to prevent the presentation from being vetted by lawmakers. “Representative Harris’s inconsistent testimony leads the Committee to believe that she had a more detailed understanding of Breger’s presentation than she led the Joint Elections Committee to believe, and that Representative Harris had hoped to avoid providing the presentation to House leadership before the hearing,” the ethics committee wrote in its report. “The committee finds that Representative Harris was not surprised or upset by Breger’s testimony and rejects Representative Harris’s testimony to the contrary.”  

The presentation was considered to be delusional and fantastical by U.S. District Court of Arizona Judge, given it did not conform to federal pleading standards, and all claims were dismissed.

The committee found Harris guilty of breaking house rules and taking actions that were disorderly conduct and damaging to the house’s institutional integrity; hence she was expelled. 

Protesters outside expressed their disappointment. “Shame on you! Shame, shame, shame!” one protester shouted before leaving.