Giuliani Met for 10 Hours With Ariz. Lawmakers. Now, a Shutdown

Whether Rudy Giuliani brought down the house during his testimony last week on alleged election fraud is debatable—but he did succeed in shutting down the House, and the Senate, in Arizona after he tested positive Sunday for COVID-19. The Arizona Republic reports the state legislature is closing shop for a week "out of an abundance of caution" after President Trump's personal lawyer spent upward of 10 hours at a meeting in a Phoenix hotel on Nov. 30, where he discussed his election concerns with at least two GOP members of Congress (Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs) and nine state lawmakers. The paper notes Giuliani "led the meeting maskless, flouting social distancing guidelines and posing for photos." At one point, he even asked a witness to remove her mask, though she was sitting less than 6 feet away from him, the Hill notes.

On social media, lawmakers indicated that Giuliani had also held private meetings on Tuesday with GOP lawmakers and leaders from the legislature, while some newly elected Republican lawmakers who attended the Monday meeting also reportedly went to an orientation later in the week, possibly spreading the virus to even more people. It's "the epitome of COVID-19 irresponsibility," Democratic state Sen. Martin Quezada said of the chain of events. An email to Arizona House members said "no one will have permission to work or meet in the building" this week, per the Washington Post. The Trump campaign issued a statement noting that Giuliani had tested negative for the virus and shown no symptoms shortly before heading to Arizona last week, as well as to Georgia and Michigan. (More Rudy Giuliani stories.)