Andy Biggs

Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs criticized Gov. Katie Hobbs for refusing an interview in a criminal probe.

Biggs himself has a history of not complying with subpoenas for interviews in high-profile investigations.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs says Gov. Katie Hobbs refusing to agree to an interview in a criminal case probing her ties to a donor with a state contract is "another failure of leadership and accountability."

Biggs, an Arizona congressman, said in a brief interview with The Arizona Republic it was Hobbs' prerogative not to talk to investigators, but "it would be better for her and the state if she did."

But Biggs has a history of dodging similar interviews in high-profile cases — even when he's been subpoenaed to do so, which carries more legal weight.

Biggs was subpoenaed as part of Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes' investigation of GOP electors who sent false documents to Washington, D.C., in 2020 claiming President Donald Trump won Arizona, though voters here elected Democrat Joe Biden for president.

After refusing to agree to a voluntary meeting, he was also subpoenaed by the Select Committee that investigated the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

But the longtime congressman did not comply with either. And while he detailed his reasons, Biggs denied there was any similarity between his own refusals and Hobbs'.

"I don't think it's hypocritical," he said. "I don't. Not when we reached out with lawyers on both issues."

Biggs told The Republic he did not comply with the Jan. 6 subpoena because the committee leading the inquiry was not "appropriately established" according to the rules that created it, and thus its subpoena was "illegal."

He pointed to then-Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi's refusal to seat two Republican members who objected to the election results, which prompted then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to pull Republicans out of the process.

Biggs voted against creating the committee in the first place, however. The committee's final report implicated Biggs for his significant role in Trump's plans to thwart the 2020 election results. Biggs encouraged former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to support the plans to submit illegitimate electors, and urged Arizona lawmakers to support those efforts, the report said.

Years ago, Biggs objected to the Jan. 6 subpoena on grounds that investigation was a "baseless witch hunt" and "political theater" to distract from Biden's incompetence. In a joint letter signed by Biggs and two other congressmen in 2024, he accused Mayes of starting "a political witch hunt" with her 2020 election case. That, Biggs wrote, was "blatant interference in the 2024 election," when Trump won a second term in the White House.

As to the subpoena from Mayes' office, Biggs said Mayes' chief investigator and law enforcement officers showed up with it at his house on Sunday. He thought that was "overkill, meant to be intimidating."

He called his attorney, he said, who began what Biggs described as a normal process.

"We reached out to the attorney general, said we don't really have anything to add," Biggs said. "I don't know anything about what you're talking about. Do you really want us to sit? And they said no."

Richie Taylor, a spokesperson for Mayes, declined to comment. Biggs' subpoena was publicly reported in early April 2024, about two weeks before a grand jury issued an indictment in the case. Mayes' case is now on appeal after a judge ruled prosecutors did not give grand jurors the full text of a relevant law and tossed out the indictment.

Biggs lately has been labeling his Democratic opponent "hypocrite Hobbs" after she visited Mexico City on a trip funded by a lobbying group, the type of trip she had proposed banning just three months ago. And his campaign criticized Hobbs for not agreeing to an interview in Mayes' nearly two-year-old investigation of a state contractor, Sunshine Residential Homes, that got a special pay increase after it began a new six-figure political spending campaign to benefit Hobbs and Arizona Democrats.

Hobbs' campaign said Biggs was twisting history when it comes to his own record.

“It's no surprise that after a decade in Washington, Biggs won't tell Arizonans the truth about his own failed record," Hobbs' campaign spokesman Michael Beyer said. "Biggs refused to comply with multiple criminal investigations into his role in helping plan the violent January 6th insurrection that led to the death of law enforcement officers and refuses to explain why he supports Washington's cost-hiking policies."

Biggs has long denied he had a role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, at the time blaming "leftists" and dishonest reporters for amplifying rumors about his involvement. But "Stop the Steal" leader Ali Alexander said Biggs helped come up with the idea, and dubbed Biggs a hero of the movement for doing so.

Biggs is one of the most conservative members of Congress and former leader of the hard right House Freedom Caucus. He was elected to Congress in 2016 to represent the southeast Valley after serving in the state Legislature, including as Senate president.

He is the GOP's leading candidate for the Republican nomination to challenge Hobbs. Fellow Rep. David Schweikert is also in the running but trails Biggs in fundraising and all publicly available polls. Voters will decide who gets the GOP nomination in the July 21 primary election.

Hobbs, who was elected governor in 2022 in a race that turned on voters' distaste for election denial, does not have a challenger for her party's nomination. That has allowed her to focus on keeping her seat in November, a race that election prognosticators expect either party could win.

Ahead of an election when voters' concerns about affordability are expected to be a top concern, Arizona Democrats have been linking Biggs and vulnerable GOP members of Congress to Trump's tariffs policies and increasing costs of living. Beyer took a chance to do so when asked to respond to Biggs' comments.

"Andy Biggs will soon find out that Arizonans don't want a career Washington politician bringing the same chaos, extremism, and higher costs from DC straight to Arizona," Beyer said.