GOP candidate's son had concerns about political operative

The Republican in the last undecided U.S. congressional election ignored repeated warnings from his son against hiring a shady political operator now accused of illegally collecting voter's ballots in a rural North Carolina county and casting the GOP campaign into limbo, the younger man testified Wednesday.

Contradicting congressional candidate Mark Harris' public statements that he never suspected his campaign deployed an operative in rural Bladen County who collected ballots by the bundle and turned them in when he wanted, John Harris testified at a special state elections board hearing that he'd warned his father about Leslie McCrae Dowless' operation repeatedly since mid-2016.

John Harris said his warnings were overridden because local Republicans recommended Dowless to Mark Harris, who was gearing up for a primary rematch against incumbent U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger. His parents met with Dowless in April 2017, when the operative insisted his method for maximizing mail-in vote results was legal and grounded in local relationships.

Mark Harris, Republican candidate in North Carolina's 9th congressional race, listens to testimony during a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th congressional district voting irregularities investigation Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh, N.C. (Travis LongThe News & Observer via AP, Pool)

"I think they were lied to and they believed the person who lied to them," John Harris said of his parents. "I will also say, they were weighing what I had provided in terms of analysis against other people that they respected who endorsed Mr. Dowless' behavior. Do I agree with their ultimate assessment? No. I thought what he was doing was illegal. And I was right."

North Carolina's elections director said Monday that Dowless conducted an illegal and well-funded ballot-harvesting operation while working for Mark Harris during the 2018 election cycle. Dowless' workers in Bladen County testified at the special state elections board hearing that they were directed to forge signatures, collect blank or incomplete ballots voters handed over, and even fill in votes for local candidates who hadn't earned them.

Some Bladen County residents also raised their suspicions in sworn affidavits that Dowless also may have discarded the ballots of Democrat Dan McCready's supporters. He trailed Harris by 905 votes out of about 280,000 cast in November's election, but the race wasn't certified after allegations against Dowless surfaced. The hearing has produced no testimony showing ballots were discarded.

Mark Harris, Republican candidate in North Carolina's 9th Congressional race, listens to testimony during the second day of a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th congressional district voting irregularities investigation Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh, N.C. (Travis LongThe News & Observer via AP, Pool)

Dowless declined to testify this week after the elections board refused to grant him immunity from prosecution based on what he might say. Dowless has felony convictions for insurance fraud and perjury, but Harris and his chief campaign consultant said those charges were missed in a brief background check.

John Harris said he did not have a significant role in his father's campaign and assumed campaign staffers and consultants had a duty to keep an eye on Dowless' performance.

Mark Harris previously told The Associated Press he sought out and hired Dowless because he delivered votes, including for a Republican rival in the 2016 GOP primary. Harris said he discussed with an attorney after that primary whether to challenge Dowless' incredible results for a GOP rival with mail-in ballots in Bladen County. Dowless' methods in the 2016 general election were referred to federal prosecutors, who took no action.

Agnes Willis, a Bladen County poll worker, prepares to testify under oath during the second day of a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th congressional district voting irregularities investigation Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh, N.C. (Travis LongThe News & Observer via AP, Pool)

Since October, John Harris has worked in the civil division of the same U.S. Justice Department office in Raleigh. He said he was testifying voluntarily in his capacity as a private citizen and not as a Justice Department employee. Mark Harris appeared to tear up during his son's testimony.

John Harris testified that he initially warned his parents about Dowless after reviewing voting data immediately after his father's 2016 primary loss. Mark Harris had lost a Republican primary that June in which GOP rival Todd Johnson, who used Dowless in that campaign, scored 98 percent of the mail-in ballots cast in Bladen County.

In November 2016, John Harris forwarded a Republican fundraising email amid a vote-counting fight in the close North Carolina governor's race. The email claimed that a Democratic Party voting fraud scheme in Bladen County had been uncovered, based on a complaint by Dowless of misdeeds by a local black empowerment organization.

Marc Elias, an attorney for Democratic congressional candidate Dan McCready, and Agnes Willis, a Bladen County poll worker, look over a tape that shows early voting results during the second day of a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th congressional district voting irregularities investigation Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh, N.C. (Travis LongThe News & Observer via AP, Pool)

Mark Harris reacted to the email with a reply to his son: "Amen! But interestingly enough, the guy who made the claim, Dowess (sic), is the same guy that Johnson paid to run the "absentee ballot program" for him! Guess he didn't like the Dems cutting into his business!"

Mark Harris is expected to testify Thursday. The elections board is expected to either declare him the winner in the 9th congressional district or order a new election after the multi-day hearing.

Follow Emery P. Dalesio on Twitter at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/emery%20dalesio .

Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party, talks with reporters prior to the second day of a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th congressional district voting irregularities investigation Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina elections officials looking into ballot fraud in the country's last undecided congressional election are finding that votes were counted days ahead of Election Day in the rural county at the center of disputed results. (Travis LongThe News & Observer via AP, Pool)

Kim Westbrook Strach, left, executive director of the Bipartisan State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, questions a witness during the second day of a public evidentiary hearing on the 9th congressional district voting irregularities investigation Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, at the North Carolina State Bar in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina elections officials looking into ballot fraud in the country's last undecided congressional election are finding that votes were counted days ahead of Election Day in the rural county at the center of disputed results. (Travis LongThe News & Observer via AP, Pool)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed Cuba Wednesday from the State Department's short list of countries that it deems less than fully cooperative against violent groups.

In a statement, the State Department said Blinken had found that Cuban and U.S. law enforcement were again working together on counterterrorism and other efforts.

The State Department had cited Cuba as a “not fully cooperating country” in 2022, saying that Cuba had refused to engage with Colombia in the extradition of members of the National Liberation Army group.

Colombia later dropped its arrest warrants for those members, however. “Moreover, the United States and Cuba resumed law enforcement cooperation in 2023, including on counterterrorism," Wednesday's statement said.

The State Department, in compliance with U.S. laws on arms exports, maintains a list of countries perceived as not cooperating fully on counterterrorism.

The U.S. kept North Korea, Syria, Iran and Venezuela on the list in Wednesday's rulings.

Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez acknowledged the decision, but he said that Washington could do more.

“The U.S. has just admitted what is known to everyone: that #Cuba fully collaborates with the efforts against terrorism,” Rodríguez said on X, formerly Twitter.

But he added that “all political manipulation of the issue should cease and our arbitrary and unjust inclusion on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism should end.”

Associated Press writer Andrea Rodríguez reported from Havana.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister following their talks in Kyiv on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski, Pool Photo via AP)