Mark Harris must testify under oath at NC-09 hearing

After months of dodging questions, Harris needs to testify under oath so voters can have a full understanding of his role in vote theft scheme

RALEIGH — As the vote theft scandal in North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District continued to grow over the past three months, Republican candidate Mark Harris has tried to keep a low profile and answer as few questions as possible.

Although the State Board of Elections is scheduled to meet on February 18 to discuss the NC-09 vote theft investigation, it is unclear whether Harris will be among those who will testify under oath regarding the vote theft scheme. In fact, it’s unclear whether Harris has answered any questions under oath regarding his knowledge of the apparent election fraud bankrolled by the Harris campaign.

“North Carolina voters deserve a full understanding of Mark Harris’s role in the apparent vote theft scheme carried out in his name, and the only way for that to happen is for Harris to testify under oath,” said Gerrick Brenner, executive director of Progress NC Action. “Mark Harris and his NCGOP co-conspirators have given wildly contradictory statements over the past few months, but if Harris truly has nothing to hide then he should have no problem answering questions in public and under penalty of perjury.”  

Some of the questions which Harris still hasn’t answered include:

• When you directed your staff to hire Dowless, did you know he was a convicted felon who served time in prison for fraud? If so, why did you hire him? If not, why didn’t you conduct a background check before hiring him?
• Given the warnings you received about potential fraud in Bladen County after the 2016 election, why were you so intent on hiring such a shady operative like Dowless?
• Did you know Dowless had been referred for criminal investigation in 2016 when you hired him? If not, when did you learn it?
• Have you spoken to Dowless since the State Board of Elections decided not to certify the election? If so, what did you talk about?
• You’ve called for a complete and thorough investigation into the apparent vote theft scheme conducted on behalf of your campaign. Do you think you should be seated in Congress before the investigation is complete?
• You said you can’t guarantee that Dowless didn’t do anything wrong. If that’s the case, why on earth should you be seated in Congress before a vote theft investigation is complete?