A state grand jury in Arizona on Wednesday indicted so-called “fake electors” who backed then-President Donald Trump in 2020, following a sprawling investigation into the alleged efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the presidential election in the state.
Among those charged is Kelli Ward, who served as chair of the Arizona GOP during the 2020 election and the immediate aftermath. She tweeted on Jan. 6, 2021, after the attack on the U.S. Capitol: “Congress is adjourned. Send the elector choice back to the legislatures.” Ward was a consistent propagator of false claims that Arizona’s election results were rigged.
Others charged include:
- State Senator Anthony Kern (R-LD27)
- State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-LD15)
- Michael Ward, Kelli Ward’s husband
- Tyler Bowyer, the Republican National Committee’s Arizona committeeman and the chief operating officer of the Trump-aligned Turning Point USA
- Greg Safsten, the former Arizona GOP executive director
- Former U.S. Senate candidate Jim Lamon
- Robert Montgomery, the former head of the Cochise County GOP
- Republican Party activists Samuel Moorhead, Nancy Cottle and Loraine Pellegrino.
The indictment lists Trump as “Unindicted Coconspirator 1.” It also includes redacted names of other people who have been charged in the case but have not yet been served.
Remarks by Attorney General Kris Mayes:
Let me start by thanking everyone for your patience as we conducted a thorough and professional investigation over the past 13 months into the fake electors scheme in our state. I understand for some of you, today didn’t come fast enough, and I know I’ll be criticized by others for conducting this investigation at all, but as I have stated before and will say here again today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined.
It’s too important. The investigators and attorneys assigned to this case took the necessary time to thoroughly piece together the details of the events that began nearly four years ago. They followed the facts where they led, and I’m very proud of the work they’ve done to date. We’re here because justice demands an answer to the efforts that the defendants and other unindicted coconspirators allegedly took to undermine the will of Arizona’s voters during the 2020 presidential election.
Arizona’s election was free and fair. The people of Arizona elected President Biden. Unwilling to accept this fact, the defendants charged by the state grand jury allegedly schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency. Whatever their reasoning was, the plot was to violate the law. It must be answered for, and I was elected to uphold the law of this state.
The scheme, had it succeeded, would have deprived Arizona’s voters of their right to have their votes counted for their chosen president. It effectively would have made their right to vote unconstitutional and meaningless. After the general election on November 3, 2020, the defendants and other unindicted coconspirators raised false claims of widespread voter fraud in Arizona to pressure elections officials to change the outcome of a transparent, free, and fair democratic election.
Those efforts ultimately failed when officials stood firm, followed their statutory duties, and officially certified Arizona’s election on November 30, 2020. The defendant Republican presidential electors, allegedly plotting with additional defendants, then voted for Mr. Trump and Vice President Pence on December 14, 2020, falsely claiming to be the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States from the state of Arizona. These defendants deceived the citizens of Arizona by falsely claiming that those votes were contingent only on a legal challenge that would change the outcome of the election.
In reality, the defendants intended that the false votes for Trump and Pence would encourage Vice President Pence to reject the certified Biden Harris electors’ votes, regardless of the result of any legal challenge, as you will recall, none of the legal challenges filed in Arizona state and federal courts regarding the 2020 election were remotely successful at any stage of the case.
When combined with the six other states where Republican electors sent in uncertified votes for Trump-Pence, the defendants wanted Pence to declare Mr. Trump the outright winner of the election or to send the vote back to friendly legislatures that would have certified Trump-Pence as the winner of the election.
That scheme failed when Vice President Pence upheld the rule of law and accepted all certified Biden Harris votes on January 6, 2021. A state grand jury made up of everyday, regular Arizonans has now handed down felony indictments for all 11 Republican electors, as well as several others connected to this scheme.
These charges include fraud, forgery and conspiracy. They are class two, four, and five felonies. These are serious indictments, but this is the first hurdle. The state must pass in our constitutional criminal justice system. We intend to prove these crimes were committed beyond a reasonable doubt.
However, it must be remembered that the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and convicted by a jury of their peers. Though it is important to tell Arizonans about the grand jury indictments against these defendants, our office will continue its investigation into the efforts to legally subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Please understand that any additional information provided by my office on this investigation will be limited and brief and based on the information currently outlined in the indictments as we move forward in prosecuting this case. We look forward to presenting our evidence in court and hope for a quick, fair, and deliberate resolution that will best serve the interests of justice.
I ask that everyone respects this process. Thank you.
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I admit it – I’m one of the people waiting for JGCK to weigh in on this, probably attempting to justify their treason.
At least, R caucus meetings in the AZ Senate should be interesting as two of the fake electors will be there.
Associating with known felons may not help any senators up for reelection.
JK is so busy obsessing over bathrooms, taking away the right to vote, and tax give aways to the rich, to worry about traitors in his own caucus.
He’ll worry about them…if the Center for Arizona Policy tells him to worry about them.
The wheels of justice may at times feel painfully slow, however our continued faith and support of our institutions, such as our judicial system is essential for our democracy to survive. Additionally, this indictment vividly demonstrates that elections have consequences. With the election of Kris Mayes as our state AG by a mere 280 votes – we Arizonans now get to witness that justice will be done. Every vote matters.
The wheels of justice grind slowly but surely! Thank you fellow Arizona grand jury members for applying the law and seeking justice for perpetrators of these serious allegations.