RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican Mark Harris's son, John Harris took the stand on Wednesday about what his father knew about an absentee ballot operation during last November's 9th District congressional race.
John Harris was heavily involved in his father's campaign. During his emotional testimony Wednesday, he admitted he had concerns about McCrae Dowless, the man accused of orchestrating the absentee ballot scheme.
Dowless is a long-time political operative who investigators for the Board of Elections now believe was running an unlawful scheme involving absentee ballots.
John Harris went on to say he thought Dowless might be a "shady character," and told the Board of Elections he believed Dowless had engaged in collecting ballots in 2016, saying mistakes were made by his dad.
"I love my dad and I love my mom, okay," John Harris said. "I think that they made mistakes in this process, and they certainly did things differently than I would have done them."
Mark Harris was visibly shaken and teary-eyed in response.
John Harris says he took his concerns to his father. But Mark Harris personally hired Dowless anyway, telling his son he believed Dowless would act within the law.
"I have no reason to believe at any point that my father actually knew that McCrae and his folks were doing the things that have been described today," John Harris said.
Mark Harris is expected to be the first witness when court resumes Thursday morning, and will likely be asked why he ignored the advice of his son.
Andy Yates, director of the Red Dome group, a consulting firm hired by Mark Harris' campaign, continued his testimony from Tuesday.
Yates said Tuesday his firm was in charge of paying Dowless, the man at the center of the investigation of alleged absentee ballot tampering in two counties, but denied knowing of any wrongdoing by Dowless during the election.
On Wednesday, Yates testified that he did a Google search and never discovered that Dowless had a criminal record that included a fraud conviction. Yates said when he talked to Dowless about his operation, Dowless never mentioned that his workers would collected absentee ballots from voters, which is illegal.
"He never told me he collected ballots," Yates said.
Yates went on to say that he never would have been involved with Dowless if he thought he was involved in illegal activities.
This story will be updated continually. Stick with WCNC.com and NBC Charlotte for the latest in the 9th District evidentiary hearing and investigation.