Arizona Audit Attracts Politicians Who Were In DC Jan. 6

(Then-Trump spokesperson Jason Miller tweeted in response to a story calling Mastriano Trump's pick for governor in May that Trump had not "made any endorsement or commitments yet in this race.")Mastriano did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment.An observer watches as contractors working for Cyber Ninjas examine and recount ballots from the 2020 election at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on May 8, in Phoenix.Alaska Rep. David EastmanEastman, who represents Sarah Palin’s hometown of Wasilla in the Alaska state legislature, received a tour of the Arizona audit on June 8.The day before the insurrection at the Capitol, Eastman had tweeted that he would be in Washington and linked to a blog post he wrote titled “Trump Lost and Jeffrey Epstein Killed Himself,” in which he argued that Congress should not certify Biden’s win. Two weeks after the insurrection, Eastman tweeted that “those who broke the law in violating the integrity of our capitol building should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” while equating the insurrectionists with “those who broke the law in violating the integrity of our election.”Eastman did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment.The empty desk of Rep. Ron Hanks in Denver on Jan. 14.Colorado Rep. Ron HanksHanks toured the Arizona audit on June 10, just a day after he unsuccessfully tried to oust the Colorado House’s Republican leader.Hanks was also present in Washington on Jan. 6 to protest the results of the 2020 election, the same election in which he first won his seat in the Colorado House. He tweeted late that afternoon — nearly three hours after rioters breached the Capitol — calling on “peaceful Patriots” not to “drown out our message with violence.”Jones has also traveled to Mar-a-Lago since Trump’s defeat, where the former president encouraged him to run for governor.Jones did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment.Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase, who refuses to wear a mask, sits inside a plexiglass booth to fight the spread of COVID-19 during the Senate special session at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, Feb. 25.Virginia Sen. Amanda ChaseChase visited Phoenix on June 10 and told the right-wing, conspiratorial Gateway Pundit site that the audit “is setting the gold standard for elections going forward, period.” She also said that “every legislator should come and watch this process.”Chase also spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, but said in a video she posted to Facebook — on an account that has since been suspended — that she left before the riot on the advice of her security team, according to the Chesterfield Observer.