Washington (CNN) A Republican official from a key Arizona county said Monday that he had rejected calls from President Donald Trump's White House in the weeks following the 2020 election because he believed "whatever needed to be said, needed to be said in a courtroom." "I got a phone call from the White House switchboard, and I have to say it: All of these people that called me, it wasn't stonewalling. ... Whatever needed to be said, needed to be said in a courtroom in front of a judge or a jury," Hickman told CNN's Michael Smerconish on "Cuomo Prime Time," referring to a number of election-related lawsuits that were pending at the time of the White House calls. "Hickman told The Republic that he had allowed the calls to go to voice mail, where the White House's switchboard operator asked him to call the President back. He did not return the calls, he told The Republic.

Source: CNN July 06, 2021 02:48 UTC