Republicans in multiple states charged for posing as electors – The Washington Post
Republicans in four states are facing charges after submitting documents to Congress falsely claiming that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election in their states. Investigations are ongoing and more charges could be filed.
Every four years, presidential electors in every state meet on the same day in December to submit electoral ballots to federal authorities so Congress can finalize the results. On that day in 2020, Republicans in seven states signed ballots for Trump even though Joe Biden had won in their states. In five of the states, they claimed to be legitimate electors even though they were not. In the other two, they signed paperwork saying their states’ electoral votes for Trump should be counted only if Biden’s victory was overturned.
State and local prosecutors have investigated and in some instances issued charges. The Justice Department is also investigating the issue. Here’s a look at where the cases stand in each state.
An Arizona grand jury in April indicted 11 state Republicans, as well as seven attorneys, aides and advisers affiliated with Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign on felony charges over their alleged efforts to subvert Biden’s 2020 win in the state.
The group is charged on counts pertaining to conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and forgery. The charges were announced by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D), capping the end of a year-long investigation into how the elector strategy played out in Arizona. A number of those who were charged immediately denied the accusations or insisted they were politically motivated and vowed to fight them in court. George Terwilliger, a lawyer representing former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, called the indictment “a blatantly political and politicized accusation” that “will be contested and defeated.”
Those indicted include Meadows, attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman and Christina Bobb, top campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn and former campaign aide Mike Roman.
Also charged are the Republicans who signed paperwork on Dec. 14, 2020, that falsely purported Trump was the rightful winner, including former state party chair Kelli Ward, state Sens. Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern, and Tyler Bowyer, a GOP national committeeman and chief operating officer of Turning Point Action.
Trump was not charged, but he is described in the indictment as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Three of the 16 Republicans who claimed to be electors in Georgia were charged in August 2023 as part of a sweeping indictment alleging Trump and others conspired to steal the 2020 election. The three would-be electors were charged with racketeering, impersonating a public official, forgery and other crimes. Prosecutors gave many of the others who claimed to be Georgia electors immunity deals as they conducted their broad investigation into Trump.
A grand jury charged several people who assisted the would-be electors with crimes related to their activities, including Trump, Giuliani, Ellis and Roman. Most have pleaded not guilty, but two of them — Ellis and attorney Kenneth Chesebro — reached plea deals with prosecutors in October. Ellis pleaded guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings, and Chesebro pleaded guilty to a felony count of conspiring to file false documents. The others have pleaded not guilty.
In April, a state prosecutor said he was separately investigating Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R), who was among those who claimed to be an elector.
State Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) in July 2023 brought the first charges in the country against those purporting to be electors. She charged each of the 16 Republicans with eight felonies, including forgery and conspiracy to commit forgery. Prosecutors in October dropped the charges against one of them, James Renner, in exchange for his testimony. The others have pleaded not guilty.
A grand jury in December 2023 charged the six Republicans in Nevada who claimed to be electors with two felonies each, for forging documents and attempting to file false documents. They face up to nine years in prison and up to $15,000 in fines. They have pleaded not guilty.
Among those who were charged are Michael J. McDonald, the chairman of the state Republican Party, and Jim DeGraffenreid, a Republican national committeeman. Those two received limited immunity in the separate federal investigation into election interference that special counsel Jack Smith is conducting.
Investigators for state Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) have interviewed Chesebro as a possible witness as part of an ongoing probe. Other details about the investigation have not been made public. Separately, Chesebro, Trump attorney James Troupis and the 10 Wisconsin Republicans who posed as electors recently settled a lawsuit brought by two of the state’s legitimate electors. As part of the deals, they publicly released records about their efforts and withdrew their false filings from the National Archives. In addition, those who acted as electors agreed not to do so again this year or any time Trump is on the ballot. Troupis paid an unspecified amount of money to those who brought the suit.
State Attorney General Raúl Torrez (D) in January announced that the five Republicans who met as electors in New Mexico were not subject to prosecution under state law. The Republicans in New Mexico included wording in their paperwork saying their electoral votes should be counted only if they were found to be legitimate electors.
State investigators determined in early 2022 that Republicans in Pennsylvania probably did not violate the law because they included a caveat in their paperwork saying their electoral votes were to be counted only if a court found they were legitimate electors. The review of the matter was overseen by Democrat Josh Shapiro, who was attorney general at the time and is now governor.
Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.