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The Arizona Legislature will close for a week “out of an abundance of caution” after Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal attorney, possibly exposed several Republican lawmakers to COVID-19.
On Sunday afternoon, less than a week after the former New York City mayor visited Arizona as part of a multi-state tour to contest the 2020 election results. Trump revealed that Giuliani had tested positive for the virus. The 76-year-old was later admitted to the medical center at Georgetown University.
.@RudyGiuliani, by far the greatest mayor in the history of NYC, and who has been working tirelessly exposing the most corrupt election (by far!) in the history of the USA, has tested positive for the China Virus. Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2020
Giuliani spent more than 10 hours at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix last Monday addressing election issues with Arizona Republicans, including two Congress members and at least 13 current and potential state lawmakers. He led the meeting maskless, blurring rules for social distancing, and posing for pictures.
According to social media reports from lawmakers, Giuliani also met with Republican lawmakers and legislative leadership privately the next day.
Sunday evening, Democratic legislators noticed that some representative-elects who attended the Hyatt event attended an orientation later in the week for fresh representatives, likely exposing additional legislators and Capitol staff.
Following those claims, Sen. Martín Quezada of the Democratic State called the chain of possible exposure “the epitome of COVID-19 irresponsibility.” Addressing the Republican representatives, he said: “You owe it to the very people who work in the Capitol buildings to be better than this.”
Later that night, Trump’s team issued a statement saying that before heading to Arizona and traveling to Arizona, Giuliani had tested negative. The statement said he “did not experience any symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 until more than 48 hours after his return.”
It remains uncertain exactly when Giuliani became exposed.
GOP lawmakers, though a few tweeted well-wishes, were largely silent on the possible Arizona implications of Giuliani’s diagnosis Sunday evening.
Republican state Rep. Jeff Weninger was an exception, tweeting: “For crying out loud, stop politicizing COVID.”
“Some of you need to take it more seriously than you are taking it,” he wrote. “And some of you are literally trolling Twitter and hoping for news about others that you can take advantage of.”
Minutes later, Rep. Arlando Teller of the Democratic State confirmed his mother had died of COVID-19. Teller was also infected with the virus and was hospitalized for several days.
Following Trump’s failed reelection campaign, Giuliani started traveling the nation baselessly alleging systemic bribery and challenging the electoral system’s legitimacy.
While attending Giuliani’s Phoenix conference, GOP Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs sat behind the former New York City mayor.
State Sens. David Gowan, Sonny Borrelli, Sylvia Allen, and Reps. Mark Finchem, Bret Roberts, Nancy Barto, Leo Biasiucci, David Cook, and Kelly Townsend were seated on the front panel of the room together. In the crowd were a handful of other GOP lawmakers.
All spent hours listening to Giuliani question multiple “witnesses” — who were not placed under oath — about how elections can be infiltrated and why they thought Arizona’s election results might have been compromised.
Some state GOP legislators, such as Rep.-elect Judy Burges and Sen-elect Wendy Rogers, expected to take office next month, also attended. Members of the crowd were spread out, but a picture shared by the Arizona Republican Party showed several people standing close together for a group photo, including Giuliani and Trump legal advisor Jenna Ellis.
On Tuesday, Giuliani met more Republican Arizona lawmakers, including House Speaker Rusty Bowers, House Majority Leader Warren Petersen, Senate President Karen Fann, Senate Majority Leader Rick Gray, and Sens. Michelle Ugenti-Rita and Vince Leach.
State GOP Rep. Cook said Sunday that he and his family had tested negative for COVID-19 Thursday and felt fine.” It was not immediately clear whether any other republicans who rubbed shoulders with Giuliani had been tested or were quarantining after learning of Giuliani’s diagnosis. The Trump team said that no state lawmakers or press members were “on the contact tracing list.”
Guidelines for Disease Control and Prevention Centers advise quarantine for those who are within six feet of someone who has COVID-19 for a period of 15 minutes or more.
According to Democratic state Sen. Andrea Dalessandro, at least three newly elected lawmakers who attended the Hyatt meeting also attended a new member orientation for legislators late last week.
She said that only one elected Republican delegate who attended the meeting wore a mask.
In a tweet Sunday night, Dalessandro wrote that she was “not ill” but planned to “stay home and get tested later this week.”
Late Sunday, several other Democratic lawmakers responded to the story, with state Rep. Jennifer Longdon calling the Hyatt event and the resulting exposure “incredibly irresponsible.”
State Sen. Victoria Steele tweeted: “This is not negligence. It is willful, deliberate endangerment of others.
In the meantime, Trump’s election lawyer Ellis called the Capitol closure “absolutely unnecessary,” retweeting a post from a conservative cable anchor claiming that the House speaker “needs an excuse to give his angry constituents about why he’s refusing to call a session and examine the fraud in his state.”
“Call Rusty Bowers in AZ and tell him not to use COVID as an EXCUSE!!” wrote Ellis.
The Arizona Republican Party tweeted, simply: “Get back to work, Rusty!”
Ever since the pandemic started, six state legislators have publicly confirmed positive COVID-19 test. Two have been hospitalized, including Teller, and at least two have lost relatives to the virus.
