Republican candidate Mark Harris’ son warned his father in 2017 that McCrae Dowless, a potential hire for his congressional campaign, was likely using illegal techniques to shore up votes via absentee ballots. The revelation came during a Wednesday testimony from Harris’ son as part of the ongoing hearing into voting irregularities in North Carolina’s 9th congressional district. Since the November election, Mark Harris has repeatedly maintained that he had no knowledge that Dowless working on his behalf may have been illegally collecting absentee ballots from voters in North Carolina. But in a stunning Wednesday testimony, John Harris, 29, said he warned his father that Dowless had done just that in a 2016 primary contest. The North Carolina Board of Elections is currently holding a multiday public hearing amid accusations Dowless engaged in a nearly identical scheme in 2018 and whether a new election is warranted. John Harris, who is currently an assistant U.S. attorney in the eastern district of North Carolina, said he told his mother and father Dowless had done this in an April 2017 telephone conversation when he learned his dad had met with the political operative and was considering hiring him to work on his congressional bid in Bladen County. John Harris said he suspected illegal absentee activity after reviewing absentee results from a 2016 primary that his father lost and Dowless was working for one of Harris’ rivals. In 2016, John Harris noticed the opponent, Todd Johnson, had gotten an unusually high number of votes by absentee ballot in the county. Moreover, he noticed the absentee ballots were coming in in batches, which made him suspect that they were illegally being collected.

ASSOCIATED PRESS GOP candidate Mark Harris cries as his son testifies at a hearing about allegations of absentee ballot fraud on Wednesday.

After getting off the phone with his parents in 2017, he emailed them a copy of the state statute explaining that collecting absentee ballots was a felony. Mark Harris and his wife Beth were skeptical Dowless was doing something illegal. They wondered if he had found some way around explicitly collecting the ballots, like escorting people with their ballots to their mailbox. John Harris warned his parents in emails that even if that was the case, Dowless was likely on thin legal ice. “They key thing I am fairly certain of they do that is illegal is they collect the completed absentee ballots and mail them all at once,” John Harris wrote to his parents in an email. Ultimately, they overruled their son and hired Dowless. Dowless had described his absentee ballot program to Mark Harris and his wife and said what he was doing was legal. They bought it. “They heard my concerns,” John Harris said Wednesday. “Their mind was made up.” They had seen, John Harris said, how effective the method was in 2016. John Harris said he didn’t believe his parents knew Dowless was engaged in illegal activity. Dowless had assured them he wasn’t collecting absentee ballots and they believed him, John Harris said. And after his parents made the decision to hire Dowless, the son said they didn’t discuss the matter again.

ASSOCIATED PRESS John Harris testified he warned his father about likely illegal activity regarding a political operative he wanted to hire.