Arizona GOP nominee for secretary of state Mark Finchem stated Thursday evening that he is been interviewed as a witness by the Justice Division and the Home choose committee investigating the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.
His disclosure got here throughout a televised debate in opposition to Democratic opponent Adrian Fontes of their race to be the state's prime election official.
On Jan. 6, he was in Washington, D.C., and took part within the Cease the Steal march to the U.S. Capitol, however he stated Thursday that he was not interviewed as a suspect.
"The final time I checked, to be at a spot when one thing's occurring is just not unlawful," Finchem stated. "I have been handled as a witness not as a suspect."
After the talk, in keeping with the Related Press, Finchem stated of his interplay with the Justice Division, "It was an extended checklist of questions and fairly frankly I do not bear in mind all of them." He informed reporters that he was requested why he was on the Capitol on Jan. 6 and was interviewed "a few months in the past.
Finchem nonetheless claims the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, and urged in response to a query by the moderator that if he had been secretary of state, he wouldn't have licensed the outcomes exhibiting that President Joe Biden received Arizona. There have been "too many hypotheticals" for him to think about the outcomes, he replied.
Finchem asserted that the 2020 election in Arizona was "compromised" in a number of counties and highlighted Yuma County and Maricopa County, however provided no proof in assist of his statements.
Fontes, who's at the moment the Maricopa County recorder, stated Finchem's "lies" in regards to the 2020 election are "harmful."
"When now we have conspiracy theories and lies like those Mr. Finchem has simply shared — based mostly in no actual proof — what we find yourself doing is eroding the religion that now we have in one another as residents," Fontes stated.
Finchem stated poll harvesting and the "2,000 Mules" conspiracy documentary confirmed that there had been fraud within the 2020 election. The Washington Publish stated of the documentary by Dinesh D'Souza, a right-wing commentator, that D'Souza "is elevating shaky, misrepresented, incomplete claims to bolster his rhetoric," and the movie incorporates "irredeemable flaws."
Requested if the outcomes of the 2022 main elections in Arizona had been respectable, Finchem stated "I do not know. It's what it's," Finchem stated, including that he hasn't been in a position to dig into how the ballots had been processed.
Finchem additionally stated he opposes early voting and voting by mail, including that voters ought to go to the polls, though he did say he would assist some absentee voting.