Two Arizona Republicans recruited by allies of former President Donald Trump to join an effort to keep him in office after he lost the 2020 election grew so concerned about the fake GQP electors scheme that they told lawyers working on it that they feared their actions could be seen as treason,” the New York Times reports (currently behind a paywall.)
Breaking News: Two Republicans involved in Donald Trump’s effort to falsely claim he had won Arizona told lawyers that they feared their actions could be seen as treason. https://t.co/nK29WPz3SB
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 2, 2022
"Mr. Chesebro wrote the word 'treasonous' in bold."@maggieNYT & me on internal emails regarding concerns about the Trump campaign effort to put forth electors to falsely claim he had won Arizona https://t.co/ZjdeuhjpMW
— Luke Broadwater☀️ (@lukebroadwater) August 2, 2022
Taegan Goddard summarizes, Arizona Officials Warned Plan Could ‘Appear Treasonous’:
“Kelli Ward, the chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party, and Kelly Townsend, a state senator, were both said to have expressed concerns to Mr. Trump’s lawyers in December 2020 about participating in a plan to sign on to a slate of electors claiming that Mr. Trump had won Arizona, even though Joe Biden had won the state.”
“The scheme was part of a broader bid — one of the longest running and most complicated that Mr. Trump undertook as he sought to cling to power after losing the 2020 presidential election — to falsely manufacture a victory for him by creating fake slates of [GQP] electors in battleground states who would claim that he had been the true winner.”
Kelli Ward and her husband signed on as fake GQP electors (below), but Kelly Townsend did not.
But Kelly Townsend was recently subpoenaed by the FBI for her letter to Vice President Mike Pence asking him not to certify the 2020 election. The FBI subpoenaed Karen Fann and Kelly Townsend for information on the January 6 insurrection.
Kelli Ward and her husband were earlier subpoenaed for their roll in the fake GQP electors scheme. Arizona GOP chair subpoenaed in federal investigation of fake electors.
They were right: some dare call it treason.
Looking like Lamon gets to lose his Senate bid AND face federal felony charges for his trouble.