Several former and current top aides of former President Donald Trump appear to be among those indicted by Arizona’s attorney general for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election. Among them are Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, former Trump lawyer John Eastman, and Boris, one of Trump’s top aides and currently a member of Trump’s 2024 campaign team.・Includes Mr. Epstein.
Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays also announced the indictment of 11 alleged fake electors for their involvement in efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state.
Charges include fraud, forgery and conspiracy.
The indictment’s “unindicted co-conspirator #1” is believed to be Trump, but the document’s language states that Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence were kept in office “against the will of the voters of Arizona.” He is said to have been involved in a plan to
The indictment lists another person, whose name is now redacted but appears to be Giuliani, as “an attorney for unindicted co-conspirator 1, often identified as the mayor.”
Trump’s former chief of staff, Meadows, also appears to be among those whose names were redacted. The indictment says that person “was the chief of staff of unindicted co-conspirator 1 in 2020,” which appears to be consistent with Meadows’ job title at the time.
Mays said in a release that once all defendants have been served, all names will no longer be redacted.
The indictment alleges that Arizona announced that it was prepared to pledge its electoral votes to Donald Trump despite Joe Biden winning the 2020 election. , becoming the fourth state to bring criminal charges against so-called “fake electors.” state.
The 11 defendants currently named in the indictment are named in court documents: Kelly Ward, Tyler Bower, Nancy Cottle, Jacob Hoffman, Anthony Kern, James Ramon; They are Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorehead, Lorraine Pellegrino, Gregory Safsten, and Michael Ward.
According to the indictment, in December 2020, 11 Republicans, including then-Arizona Republican Party Chairman Kelli Ward, two Republican congressmen, and a Republican National Committee official, met in Arizona and He signed a document falsely identifying himself as a legitimate elector of Arizona.
“Today, 11 Arizona Republican presidential electors gathered to vote for President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence,” the Arizona Republican Party tweeted in December 2020. As the country holds public hearings on election fraud and voter fraud, it is imperative that Congress properly tally the election. ”
All 11 of the alleged fake electors were also part of the state’s legal challenge challenging the election results based on allegations of voter fraud. The lawsuit was dismissed by a judge who found their claims of election fraud to be “severely lacking in relevant or credible evidence.”
Rusty Bowers, the then-Arizona House speaker, told a House committee on January 6 that he received phone calls after the election from Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani alleging election fraud in the state. .
“I argued that we needed judicial-level evidence, real evidence,” Bowers testified. “That’s kind of the evidence I’m talking about. And the president said, ‘Rudy, give the man what he wants.'”
Asked by ABC News’ Jonathan Karl if Giuliani had ever provided that evidence, Bowers said: “Mr. Giuliani has not provided us with anything. No names, no data, nothing. “Yes,” he replied.
Bowers also said Giuliani and attorney Jenna Ellis flew to Phoenix to meet with Giuliani and other Arizona lawmakers and urge them to convene Congress to investigate baseless claims of voter fraud. Stated.
In December, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced felony charges against six alleged “fake electors” in the state. In July, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel similarly indicted 16 alternate electors on charges including conspiracy to commit fraud. And in Georgia, three such “fake electors” are among 18 co-defendants indicted with Trump on widespread extortion charges for allegedly trying to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. It included people.
All defendants charged in all three investigations have pleaded not guilty, and Georgia defendants Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, and Scott Hall have since agreed to testify in the case. entered into a plea bargain. In Michigan, the attorney general dropped all charges against Jim Renner in exchange for his cooperation.
ABC News previously reported that President Trump’s co-defendant in Georgia, Michael Roman, was subpoenaed as part of the Arizona investigation, and that Chesebro had given voluntary interviews with Arizona investigators in recent weeks.
