The state senator behind the push to carry out an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election on Friday accused Senate Republican leaderships of stonewalling his efforts.
During an interview aired Friday on One American News Network, Mastriano, a Franklin County Republican, blasted Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre County, for trying to shut down his pursuit of an election audit.
He added that Corman has threatened to strip him of his chairmanship of the Senate Intergovernmental Committee and fire his staff if he moves ahead with the audit.
“This is the kind of games that are going on behind the scenes,” he said.
Corman responded by tapping another lawmaker to lead a review of the 2020 election. And Corman also responded to Mastriano’s accusations in a sharply worded statement.
“It is deeply disappointing that Senator Mastriano has retreated from conducting a forensic investigation of the election in Pennsylvania, and it is discouraging to realize that he was only ever interested in politics and showmanship and not actually getting things done,” Corman said.
“Despite this setback, we remain committed to conducting a full investigatory audit of recent elections to improve our election system going forward,” Corman said. “We need someone to lead this effort who is more interested in real results than grandstanding at rallies.”
Corman then went on to appoint Rep. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson County, to “take up this cause and initiate a thorough review of the election, starting with fighting back against the partisan attacks on our election system by the Wolf Administration.” He also reassigned Mastriano’s staff to Corman’s office, a top aide to Senate GOP leadership said.
Mastriano, a potential gubernatorial candidate, has been a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump. Mastriano has lent his voice to baseless claims that the election was stolen from Trump. Dush traveled with Mastriano to Arizona to observe the election audit in that state.
During the nationally televised interview, Mastriano said his committee was set to meet on Aug. 6 to vote on issuing subpoenas to the three counties who refused his requests to grant access to documents, information and equipment related to the 2020 general election and 2021 primary election.
Factoring into the counties’ refusal of the request was Gov. Tom Wolf’s top election official warning the state would decertify any election equipment that is subject to any such third-party access, rendering it useless in an election.
Mastriano told the conservative news network he advertised the meeting’s date, time and place the day before as the state’s Open Meetings Law requires.
“I come to find out the staff of the Senate leadership canceled my reservation of that room to have a vote,” said Mastriano.
He went on to say, “Additionally, calls were made to my committee members saying the meeting was canceled without even conferring with me. This happened behind my back.”
A spokesman for Corman told a different version of what happened.
“Mastriano’s account of things ... are complete and utter fiction,” said Corman spokesman Jason Thompson. “A meeting was never scheduled, a room was never reserved, a sunshine notice was never issued, and nobody went behind his back about anything.
“He wanted to move forward for a vote on that date, but concerns were raised that he did not have adequate plans in place if any of the counties opted to comply immediately, and so he agreed not to move forward with that meeting. That’s as far as things got,” Thompson said. “To suggest that he had a meeting scheduled and it got yanked off the calendar is a fabrication.”
Mastriano said the leadership of the Senate Republican majority has “done nothing but stonewall me” for the past six weeks since he sent letters to commissioners in York, Tioga and Philadelphia with his sweeping request for information to conduct his audit that he said would “go a long way toward restoring trust and support in our systems.”
Pennsylvanians want to know “what the heck happened in the election,” Mastriano said. He said the majority of his 10-member committee, seven of whom are Republicans, support issuing subpoenas, “but I’ve been stonewalled and we just need to do this.”
Mastriano also issued a statement on Twitter on Friday alluding to what at the time he said was rumors that another senator would be appointed to head up the election investigation.
“I don’t know if the rumors are true. If that happens, I have little confidence that a real investigation will ever take place,” Mastriano wrote. He didn’t return a call or a text seeking comment.
While Corman has made it clear he doesn’t want Mastriano leading the effort, the Senate president has indicated he supports some kind of review of the 2020 election.
The election audit has caused a fracture within the Senate Republican Caucus as at least two Republican senators have now publicly called for an end to the review of the 2020 presidential election.
On Thursday, Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming County, issued a statement saying after the many messages he received about the fairness of the election, he thought at first blush an audit would be a good idea.
“But after reasoned thought into the ramifications such an undertaking may trigger, this will not be a productive undertaking,” Yaw said. “As the stage is being set, every move associated with an audit is going to be met with, or require, court action.” Yaw estimated a court battle could take three to five years to resolve and prove to be very costly.
Earlier this month, Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie County, said in a scathing op-ed, that the election was “absent credible evidence of fraud.” He added, “Donald Trump lost Pennsylvania because Donald Trump received fewer votes.”
In Pennsylvania, President Joe Biden won by more than 80,000 votes in an election that also ushered in Republicans to statewide offices for the first time in decades.
* This post was updated to include the comments from Corman’s spokesman Jason Thompson.
Jan Murphy may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.
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