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Rudy Giuliani testifies in Missouri House hearing on 'voter fraud' in other states

Missouri Republicans wanted Congress to stop the Electoral College vote in six states President-elect Biden won until lawmakers there conduct investigations

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri cast its 10 Electoral College votes for President Donald Trump Monday in Jefferson City.

Soon after the vote, Republican state lawmakers tried to advance a resolution calling on Congress to stop the electoral vote in other states where President-elect Joe Biden won until those states' lawmakers conduct investigations of their results.

The Senate lounge inside the Missouri capitol is a room rarely seen by the public. Monday, it held an event most people give little thought to, much less actually witness. 

But, this year, with so much attention on the Electoral College nationwide, there was a small crowd in the room, even if the outcome was never in doubt. 

President Trump won this state by 15% points and all 10 electors cast their votes for him and Vice President Mike Pence.

What is in doubt, in the minds of some Republicans, are the results in six swing states where Joe Biden won.

Missouri Republicans wanted Congress to stop the Electoral College vote in six states that President-elect Joe Biden won until lawmakers there conduct investigation, and they held a hearing Monday night on the resolution to send a letter expressing these concerns to Congress. 

At the invitation of Missouri Republicans, the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, even testified at the hearing via Zoom. Democrats accused him of just repeating claims of fraud that have already been debunked and questioned why Giuliani could testify via video call when the legislature had denied Missouri citizens that right during the pandemic.

State Rep. Deb Lavender, (D) Kirkwood, pointed out the special session was costing tax payers for the per diems and mileage for lawmakers to attend the hearing outside of a regular session. 

"This is people who are not happy with the outcome and they're having a little tantrum about it. And it's that simple," said Lavender, who lost her state Senate race this November. She said she accepts the results on the election. 

Republican Justin Hill of Lake Saint Louis is the state representative who sponsored the resolution. He said even if investigations in six other states — Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada — don't change the results of the election, he would be satisfied knowing lawmakers in those states looked into "claims of fraud." 

"There's really a lot of public just nonbelief in the in the validity of the election results," said Hill. "So, I think those states owe it to Missourians to say, 'Hey, we really have worked through all of these claims.'"

Asked whether Missouri would be infringing on the rights of other states by questioning their elections, Hill said holding them accountable would be the "purist form of federalism." 

Earlier this month, Missouri's Republican attorney general, Eric Schmidt, joined a lawsuit by Texas against several states that Joe Biden won. But the Supreme Court rejected that case. 

The president and his allies have lost dozens of times in courts across the country, and they have yet to provide evidence of any widespread fraud.

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