Arizona prosecution of fake electors

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Arizona v. Ward
CourtArizona Superior Court in and for the County of Maricopa
Full case nameState of Arizona v. Kelli Ward, et al.
Docket nos.CR2024-006850 (93 SGJ 81)[1]
Charge
List of charges
  • Conspiracy
  • Forgery
  • Fraudulent schemes and artifices
  • Fraudulent schemes and practices

State of Arizona v. Kelli Ward, et al. is a state criminal prosecution concerning the Trump fake electors plot in Arizona. The eighteen defendants, including eleven Arizona Republicans and seven Donald Trump associates, are accused of producing and attempting to use a certificate of ascertainment to falsely claim Trump had won the state's electoral votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Arizona.[2][3] The eleven fake electors included former Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward, who allegedly led ten other Republicans in signing the fraudulent certificate. The indictment contains nine criminal counts, including felony fraud, forgery and conspiracy.

Background

Main articles: Trump fake electors plot and Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election

Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election in Arizona, carrying the state by 10,457 votes,[4] and gaining all of the state's eleven electoral votes.[3] Incumbent President Donald Trump lost the election in Arizona (as well as nationally), in both the popular vote and in the electoral votes. Trump and his allies refused to accept the election results, launching an extensive and ultimately unsuccessful campaign seeking the subvert the election outcome, and remain in power.[3][5] Lawsuits filed by Trump and Arizona Republicans, seeking to overturn the election in Arizona, were all rejected by the courts.[3][5]

On December 14, 2020, Arizona's legitimate electors met to formally cast their ballots for Biden, typically a procedural formality.[4] On the same day, the 11 Arizona fake electors—designated by the Republican Party as the slate for Trump—gathered at the Arizona Republican Party headquarters in Phoenix and signed a certificate of ascertainment falsely asserting that they were the "duly elected and qualified" electors, and purporting to cast the state's electors for Trump.[4][6] The Arizona Republican Party posted video of the signing on social media, including Twitter, that day.[4][7][8] As part of Trump's pressure campaign to overturn the election results, similar slates of "alternate" Republican Party electors cast invalid electoral votes for Trump in other swing states where Trump was defeated, namely Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada.[4] The fake electors' certificates were sent to Congress and the National Archives, which did not accept them.[3]

In 2021, Maricopa County ballots were audited by Arizona Republican senators to search for fraud that might show Trump had won Arizona. No fraud was found.[9]

Grand jury investigation

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, did not investigate the matter;[10][11] the Arizona Republic noted that Brnovich "had tried to straddle election denialism during his time in office."[4]

Brnovich's successor, Democrat Kris Mayes (a former Republican), took office in January 2023,[4][12] after winning election in 2022.[13] She examined the fake elector scheme, initially focusing the investigation on actions in Phoenix.[12] She publicly confirmed the existence of an investigation into the scheme in March 2023.[4] As part of the grand jury investigation, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, two Trump-allied Republican congressmen who boosted Trump's attempt to subvert the election results—received subpoenas,[4][13] as did other Trump associates.[13] A witness before the grand jury told Politico that the grand jurors took an "energetic and proactive" role in questioning and appeared to have a mix of different political orientations.[13]

In October 2023, Kenneth Chesebro began cooperating with investigators in election interference cases after he pleaded guilty in the Georgia prosecution. Arizona investigators interviewed him in December 2022.[12] Chesebro provided information that allowed Mayes to target Trump allies from out of state who participated in the Arizona scheme.[12]

In addition to the Georgia prosecution, Michigan and Nevada also brought charges against fake electors (see Michigan prosecution of fake electors and Nevada prosecution of fake electors), making Arizona the fourth state to bring criminal charges in connection with the Trump fake electors plot.[12] In November 2022, in a separate case brought by the Arizona attorney general's office, a grand jury indicted Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby, both Republican county supervisors in rural Cochise County, on charges of conspiracy and interference with an election officer, for their refusal to canvass of the county's votes from the November 2022 election by the deadline.[14][15]

Indictment

On April 25, 2024, an Arizona grand jury in the Arizona Superior Court for Maricopa County handed up a 58-page indictment against 11 Arizona Republicans and seven top Trump aides.[4][1] The defendants are charged with nine counts of conspiracy, fraud, and forgery (all felonies) from the approximate date range of the November 3, 2020 election through the electoral vote certification on January 6, 2021:[1]

  • Conspiracy with others "known and/or unknown"
  • Fraudulent schemes and artifices for knowingly benefiting from fraud designed for "preventing the lawful transfer of the presidency of the United States, keeping President Donald J. Trump in office against the will of Arizona voters, and depriving Arizona voters of their right to vote and have their votes counted"
  • Fraudulent schemes and practices for concealing facts or making false statements related to both Trump/Pence certificates "filed by the Arizona Republican electors with the Arizona Secretary of State"
  • Forgery (six counts) of Trump/Pence certificates: one filed with the Vice President of the United States, two with the Arizona Secretary of State, two with the Archivist of the United States, and one with the Chief Judge of the federal District Court for the District of Arizona

The indictment alleges that, from the day after the 2020 election, Trump allies began discussing a fake elector scheme to change the election results. This challenges a claim typically made by Republicans that the slate of pro-Trump electors was merely an "alternate" option in the event that the election results were challenged.[12]

The indictment also alleges that local Republicans in Arizona in November meanwhile tried to cast doubt on the validity of the election results, and that on November 30, 2020, Giuliani and Ellis came to Phoenix to speak to Rusty Bowers.[12]

Defendants

Fake electors

Trump aides

Unindicted co-conspirators

The indictment describes, but does not name, five unindicted co-conspirators, whom are identifiable based on the indictment's descriptions of their conduct.[4][19]

  1. Donald Trump[19][20]
  2. Kelly Townsend, Republican former state senator[19]
  3. Mark Finchem, Republican former state representative[19]
  4. Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who promoted the scheme to send alternate electors to Congress[4][19]
  5. Jack Wilenchik, an Arizona attorney who worked for the Trump campaign and facilitated the vote by the fake electors[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Arizona v. Ward - Indictment" (PDF). Washington Post. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Hakim, Danny; Haberman, Maggie (April 24, 2024). "Arizona Charges Giuliani and Other Trump Allies in Election Interference Case". The New York Times.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Billeaud, Jacques; Kelety, Josh; Cooper, Jonathan J. (April 24, 2024). "Arizona indicts 18 in case over 2020 election in Arizona, including Giuliani and Meadows". Associated Press.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barchenger, Stacey (April 24, 2024). "Grand jury indicts fake electors who falsely certified Donald Trump as 2020 winner in Arizona". Arizona Republic.
  5. ^ a b Jim Rutenberg, Jo Becker, Eric Lipton, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Martin, Matthew Rosenberg and Michael S. Schmidt, 77 Days: Trump's Campaign to Subvert the Election, New York Times (January 31, 2021).
  6. ^ a b Stacey Barchenger & Ray Stern, Following advice or fraud? Elements of AZ fake electors case that will be crucial at trial, Arizona Republic (April 28, 2024).
  7. ^ Morgan Loew; Cody Lillich (July 26, 2022). "Arizona's 'fake elector' plot focus of federal criminal investigation". KTVK.
  8. ^ "The Signing". Republican Party of Arizona. December 14, 2020.
  9. ^ Cooper, Jonathan; Christie, Bob (April 7, 2022). "Arizona AG letter offers no proof of 2020 election fraud". Associated Press. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  10. ^ Schutsky, Wayne (April 26, 2024). "Meadows, Giuliani, 11 'fake electors' from 2020 are among those indicted in Arizona". National Public Radio.
  11. ^ Merica, Dan (June 10, 2021). "Arizona attorney general, slammed by Trump, announces Senate bid". CNN.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wingett Sanchez, Yvonne (April 24, 2024). "Meadows, Giuliani and other Trump allies charged in Arizona 2020 election probe". The Washington Post.
  13. ^ a b c d Kyle Cheney and Betsy Woodruff Swan, Arizona grand jury indicts Meadows, Giuliani, other Trump allies for 2020 election interference, Politico (April 24, 2024).
  14. ^ Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Arizona officials charged with conspiring to delay midterm election outcome, Washington Post (November 29, 2023).
  15. ^ Arizona indicts 18 Republicans, including Giuliani, Meadows, over 2020 fake elector scheme, Associated Press (April 24, 2024).
  16. ^ "Tyler Bowyer". Turning Point USA. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  17. ^ a b c Lerner, Kira (January 31, 2022). "Trump's fake electors: Here's the full list". Louisiana Illuminator.
  18. ^ Sanchez, Yvonne. "Jim Lamon is the first Republican to enter Arizona's 2022 Senate race". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Mary Jo Pitzl, Arizona fake electors case outlines 5 unindicted co-conspirators. Who are they?, Arizona Republic (April 25, 2024).
  20. ^ Ian McKinney, 'Fake electors' indictment charges GOP leaders with felony fraud, forgery, Cronkite News (April 25, 2024).
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