appear like an official hearing, but it was not. It took place in a hotel ballroom, and those presenting arguments or purported evidence, like Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, and others, were not placed under oath.[105] According to President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate Jake Corman, he had initially been asked by State Senator Doug Mastriano to hold a hearing about the election. Corman responded that any formal hearing should be official, with sworn testimony, and open to both parties.[106] That was not what Senator Mastriano ultimately convened.
President Trump had originally made plans to attend the Pennsylvania gathering in person, but he cancelled after several advisors tested positive for COVID–19.[107] When President Trump called in and spoke to those gathered in the hotel ballroom, his false claims were met with cheers, and he made his purpose clear: "this election has to be turned around . . . Why wouldn't they overturn an election? Certainly overturn it in your State . . . We have to turn the election over."[108]
President Trump made the ask and Giuliani told the legislators how to carry it out. Giuliani told the assembled legislators that it was their "power" and "responsibility" to pick Pennsylvania's presidential electors and that "[they] have to convince the rest of [their] members, Republican and Democrat, they owe that to the people of" Pennsylvania.[109] Jenna Ellis told them that although Pennsylvania law dictates that electors are chosen by popular vote, "[y]ou can take that power back at any time. You don't need a court to tell you that."[110]
President Trump invited some of the lawmakers to come meet him at the White House that evening and, according to Giuliani, it was "a large group" that went.[111] Special Assistant to the President Cassidy Hutchinson's text messages with Kerik included the guest list and descriptions of the vehicles that would need access to the White House grounds.[112] Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano drove one car, a hired driver drove a van with most of the State legislators, and Kerik drove an SUV with attorney Katherine Friess and election-conspiracy proponent Phil Waldron.[113] Hutchinson estimated that at least 29 visitors traveled from Pennsylvania to the White House that day, and she explained that their conversation with the President touched on holding a special session of the State legislature to appoint Trump electors.[114]
Just a few days later, on November 30, 2020, President Trump also called into another one of Giuliani and Jenna Ellis's hotel "hearings," this time in Arizona. Several Arizona State lawmakers hosted the meeting at a Hyatt Regency in Phoenix after they did not receive permission to organize an official hearing at the State Capitol.[115] Before the hearing started, State GOP Representative Mark Finchem "promised information to show that the
