Former President Donald Trump published a statement prior to Arizona House Speaker Russell Bowers’ hearing before a committee on Tuesday, January 6, alleging that he may have a tape of a November 2020 phone conversation with Bowers regarding the 2016 presidential race.

During the hearing, Bowers testified about this discussion and another he made in December 2020 with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and President Trump about scheduling a hearing at the Arizona State Capitol to investigate charges of voter fraud.

The speaker told the committee on January 6 that he flatly declined the request, considering that Giuliani’s desired outcome was to replace now-President Joe Biden’s electors with Trump electors if fraud could be proven to the satisfaction of a majority of state lawmakers.

Bowers added that Giuliani’s staff did not give any proof that would have caused him to suspect widespread fraud.

In a statement released Tuesday morning, before Bowers testified, Trump stated, “Arizona Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers is the latest RINO to play along with the Unselect Committee. In November 2020, Bowers thanked me for getting him elected. He said he would have lost, and in fact expected to lose, if I hadn’t come along. During the conversation, he told me that the election was rigged and that I won Arizona.”

More on this story via The Western Journal:

Bowers won his 2020 re-election bid by nearly 10 percent to represent District 25, which is in Maricopa County in the city of Mesa.

“He said he got more votes than I did which could never have happened,” Trump recalled. Trump said Bowers acknowledged that he would not have been re-elected without the 45th president’s rallies.

Trump concluded, “Bowers should hope there’s not a tape of the conversation.” Read more…