Arizona 'fake electors': State indicts 18 in 2020 election interference case, Democrats respond

UPDATE: On April 26, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the names of five additional defendants who were indicted earlier in the week by the State Grand Jury: John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn, Christina Bobb, Jenna Ellis, and Michael Roman. "Additional defendants have been indicted but are not named as they have not yet been served their indictment," stated the AG's office.

Mayes' office says the following individuals were named as defendants: Kelli Ward, Tyler Bowyer, Nancy Cottle, Jacob Hoffman, Anthony Kern, James Lamon, Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Lorraine Pellegrino, Gregory Safsten, and Michael Ward. "Charges include fraud, forgery, and conspiracy – class 2, 4, and 5 felonies."

The AP's earlier story is below. 

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump 's chief of staff Mark Meadows, lawyer Rudy Giuliani and 16 others for their roles in an attempt to overturn Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

The indictment released Wednesday names 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won Arizona in 2020. They include the former state party chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers, who are charged with nine counts each of conspiracy, fraud and forgery.

The identities of seven other defendants, including Giuliani and Meadows, were not immediately released because they had not yet been served with the documents. They were readily identifiable based on descriptions of the defendants, however.

Trump himself was not charged but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator.

With the indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election. Heading into a likely November rematch with Biden, Trump continues to spread lies about the last election that are echoed by many of his supporters.

"I will not allow American democracy to be undermined," Democratic state Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a video released by her office. "It’s too important."

The indictment alludes to Giuliani as an attorney "who was often identified as the Mayor" and spread false allegations of election fraud. Another defendant is referred to as Trump’s " chief of staff in 2020," which describes Meadows.

Descriptions of other unnamed defendants point to Mike Roman, who was Trump’s director of Election Day operations; John Eastman, a lawyer who devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the election; and Christina Bobb, a lawyer who worked with Giuliani.

A lawyer for Eastman, Charles Burnham, said his client is innocent. Bobb did not respond to a text message seeking comment, nor did a lawyer who is representing Roman in a case in Georgia.

George Terwilliger, a lawyer representing Meadows, said he had not yet seen the indictment but if Meadows is named, "it is a blatantly political and politicized accusation and will be contested and defeated." Giuliani's political adviser, Ted Goodman, decried what he called "the continued weaponization of our justice system."

The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were "duly elected and qualified" electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INDICTMENT

Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes. Of the eight lawsuits that unsuccessfully challenged Biden’s victory in the state, one was filed by the 11 Republicans.

Their lawsuit asked a judge to de-certify the results that gave Biden his victory in Arizona and block the state from sending them to the Electoral College. In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa said the Republicans lacked legal standing, waited too long to bring their case and "failed to provide the court with factual support for their extraordinary claims."

Days after that lawsuit was dismissed, the 11 participated in the certificate signing.

The Arizona charges come after a string of indictments against fake electors in other states.

In December, a Nevada grand jury indicted six Republicans on felony charges of offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument in connection with false election certificates. They have pleaded not guilty.

Michigan’s Attorney General in July filed felony charges that included forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery against 16 Republican fake electors. One had charges dropped after reaching a cooperation deal, and the 15 remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Three fake electors also have been charged in Georgia alongside Trump and others in a sweeping indictment accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally overturn the results. They have pleaded not guilty.

In Wisconsin, 10 Republicans who posed as electors settled a civil lawsuit, admitting their actions were part of an effort to overturn Biden’s victory. There is no known criminal investigation in Wisconsin.

Trump was indicted in August in federal court over efforts to cling to power after his defeat, including the fake electors scheme. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday will hear arguments on his claim in that case that he can't be prosecuted for acts he committed while serving as president.

In early January, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said that state’s five Republican electors cannot be prosecuted under the current law. In New Mexico and Pennsylvania, fake electors added a caveat saying the election certificate was submitted in case they were later recognized as duly elected, qualified electors. No charges have been filed in Pennsylvania.

In Arizona, Mayes’ predecessor, Republican Mark Brnovich, conducted an investigation of the 2020 election, but the fake elector allegations were not part of that examination, according to Mayes’ office.

The so-called fake electors facing charges are Kelli Ward, the state GOP’s chair from 2019 until early 2023; state Sen. Jake Hoffman; Tyler Bowyer, an executive of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA who serves on the Republican National Committee; state Sen. Anthony Kern, who was photographed in restricted areas outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack and is now a candidate in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District; Greg Safsten, a former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party; energy industry executive James Lamon, who lost a 2022 Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat; Robert Montgomery, chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee in 2020; Samuel Moorhead, a Republican precinct committee member in Gila County; Nancy Cottle, who in 2020 was the first vice president of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women; Loraine Pellegrino, past president of the Ahwatukee Republican Women; and Michael Ward, an osteopathic physician who is married to Kelli Ward.

In a statement, Hoffman accused Mayes of weaponizing the attorney general’s office in bringing the case but didn’t directly comment on the indictment’s allegations.

"Let me be unequivocal, I am innocent of any crime, I will vigorously defend myself, and I look forward to the day when I am vindicated of this naked political persecution by the judicial process," Hoffman said.

None of the others responded to either phone, email or social media messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Arizona House Democrats respond to grand jury indictments of fake electors, including two sitting Senators

"Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced on Wednesday that a State Grand Jury had delivered multiple criminal felony indictments against 11 Republican fake electors – including Arizona State Senators Anthony Kern and Jake Hoffman-- and seven aides to Donald Trump in an illegal scheme to overturn the 2020 election. House Democratic Leader Lupe Contreras released the following statement in response to the indictments:

'The 2020 election was free and fair, and won squarely by President Joe Biden. The effort to send fake alternative electors to Washington D.C. in the midst of an orchestrated and violent insurrection was a desperate, shameful and blatantly illegal attempt to hold onto power despite the will of the American people. An empaneled Grand Jury of Arizona citizens agreed with this assessment, and we appreciate Attorney General Kris Mayes for bringing forward these indictments and for her efforts to hold accountable those who would illegally undermine our democracy and American institutions. It's disappointing, but not surprising, that two of those indicted are currently serving in the Arizona Senate. If they had any integrity, they would resign immediately.'"

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Associated Press writers Gabe Stern and Scott Sonner in Las Vegas, Kate Brumback in Atlanta and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.