Arizona legislature shuts down after Giuliani tests positive for coronavirus

The two chambers of the Arizona state legislature will suspend their work this week after former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani tested positive for the coronavirus less than a week after spending hours testifying in front of Republican legislators in a futile bid to overturn the state’s election results.

Spokespeople for the state House and Senate confirmed to The Hill Sunday that the two chambers would cancel their planned meetings this week because of concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. 

President Trump tweeted Sunday that Giuliani tested positive for the virus, and reports said he is receiving treatment at a Washington-area hospital.

Giuliani, Trump’s lead legal strategist in a series of cases the president has lost in court, has traveled to several states in recent days to testify — not under oath — about alleged election irregularities for which he has not offered evidence. 

In Arizona, Giuliani spent almost 10 hours with Republican legislators at a Phoenix hotel on Monday. He appeared without a mask, and at one point he even asked a fellow witness to remove her mask while he was sitting less than six feet away. 

At least nine state lawmakers and two members of Congress — Reps. Paul Gosar (R) and Andy Biggs (R) — attended the session, according to the Arizona Republic. The members posed for a group photograph tweeted out by the Arizona Republican Party, without a mask in sight.