Topline
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Wednesday the state indicted 11 so-called fake electors for alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election, along with seven others allegedly involved in the scheme that include associates of former President Donald Trump such as Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, according to multiple outlets.
Giuliani is one of several attorneys charged in the indictment. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Key Facts
The 11 so-called fake Republican electors named in the indictment have been charged with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, according to a filing.
Seven additional names are redacted, but Giuliani, Meadows, along with former Trump lawyers Jenna Ellis and John Eastman are among them, according to The Washington Post.
Boris Epshteyn, a former White House aide who is still close to Trump, is also one of the redacted names in the indictment, CNN reported, citing a source familiar with the investigation into the fake elector scheme.
Those charged are accused of attempting to illegally award Arizona’s electoral votes to Trump instead of President Joe Biden through submitting an “alternate” slate of electors to Congress for certification—Biden won the state by 10,457 votes in 2020.
The wording of the indictment suggests an individual identified as “Unindicted Coconspirator 1” is Trump, who has not been charged.
Big Number
Arizona is the fourth state to seek charges against “fake electors,” after Michigan, Georgia and Nevada.
Key Background
Giuliani, Meadows, Ellis and Eastman were accused of subverting the election alongside Trump and more than a dozen other co-defendants in Georgia last year. Ellis pleaded guilty to conspiring to overturn Trump’s loss in Georgia, while Giuliani, Meadows and Eastman pleaded not guilty. A California judge ruled late last month that Eastman should be disbarred from practicing law over his charges in the Georgia case, which include multiple counts of conspiracy to commit forgery and file false documents, among other allegations. Trump has not been charged in any of the fake elector probes, though the former president remains busy with his election interference case in Georgia and federal charges accusing him of election interference. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 17 counts against him across both cases, which do not yet have trial dates.
Further Reading
Trump Wants 2 Criminal Counts Tossed Out In Georgia Election Case (Forbes)
Meadows, Giuliani and other Trump allies charged in Arizona 2020 election probe (Washington Post)
