The Arizona House of Representatives is Pleasible, but I Do Not Want to Vote,” Harris said in response to an ethics committee report

State Rep. Liz Harris was expelled Wednesday from the Arizona House of Representatives for ethics violations resulting from inviting a conspiracy theorist to publicly testify before lawmakers earlier this year.

An ethics committee report said an Arizona Republican legislator was expelled from the state House of Representatives after inviting a witness to present false charges about lawmakers and other state officials.

The Republican lawmaker defended Harris ahead of the vote. “They [the public] will perceive that they don’t have a true voice in this body because when they elect somebody to rock the boat, and she does it … admittedly in the wrong way … a way that should have been better considered, that that member will be expelled. In order to protect this body, to protect public trust and confidence in us and more importantly in the legislature as a means for being the peoples voice and bringing about real change, I do sadly but vote no.

In February, Harris had invited Jacqueline Breger to present findings of what Breger and Harris claimed were an investigation. There were many attacks against public officials, including the governor. Hobbs responded to the lie on social media with a joke that was caught on camera and he said he was not involved with the gang. I am not taking bribes and I am not laundering their money.

“The integrity of our institution was damaged in that moment. House Democrats said in their statement that there needed to be accountability for the damage.

Jacqueline Breger vs. Ben Toma, a Republican, and the House Speaker who kicked out Don Shooter

The woman, Gilbert, Ariz., insurance agent Jacqueline Breger, also claimed during the February hearing that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “controls” the government and played a key role in money laundering schemes.

There was nothing substance to the claims. Democrats on committees boycotted the hearing but the seriousness of the accusations were enough to spread.

That was problematic enough to merit the ethics investigation and expulsion, according to House Speaker Ben Toma, a Republican and one of the lawmakers falsely accused of criminal activity.

Toma said the only things that they have down here are their word and integrity. When someone’s word is clearly crossed and you can no longer count on them, they can no longer be an effective legislator.

Six years ago, the House voted to kick out one of its own. In the summer of 2018, the chamber voted to expel Don Shooter, after he was found to have sexually harassed his friends and colleagues at the state Capitol.

The expulsion in Arizona follows the expulsions — for different reasons — of two Black lawmakers in Tennessee. Democrats Justin J. Pearson and Justin Jones were kicked out by a Republican supermajority after the pair — alongside Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white — led a protest from the House floor calling for reforms to gun laws.