An Arizona grand jury has charged former Donald Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as well as 16 others, with election interference.
The indictment, which was released on Wednesday, includes 11 Republicans who falsely claimed that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. It also lists seven other defendants who have not yet been served with the charges.
The Associated Press was able to identify the unnamed defendants based on their descriptions in the indictment.
One defendant is described as an attorney known as the Mayor, who spread false allegations of election fraud, which clearly refers to Giuliani. Another is described as Trump’s chief of staff in 2020, which describes Meadows.
Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a video that she will not allow American democracy to be undermined. She emphasized the importance of preserving it.
On December 14, 2020, the 11 people nominated as Arizona’s Republican electors gathered in Phoenix to sign a certificate falsely claiming that Trump won the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.
Biden won Arizona by over 10,000 votes. Of the eight lawsuits challenging Biden’s victory in the state, one was filed by the 11 Republicans who later signed the certificate declaring Trump as the winner.
Their lawsuit sought to invalidate the results that gave Biden his victory in Arizona and prevent the state from sending them to the Electoral College. However, U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa dismissed the case, stating that the Republicans lacked legal standing, and failed to provide factual support for their claims.
After the lawsuit was dismissed, the 11 Republicans participated in the certificate signing.
The charges in Arizona follow a series of indictments against fraudulent electors in other states.
In December, a Nevada grand jury charged six Republicans with felony counts related to false election certificates. They have pleaded not guilty.
Michigan’s Attorney General filed felony charges in July, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery, against 16 Republican fake electors. One defendant reached a cooperation deal, resulting in dropped charges, while the remaining 15 defendants have pleaded not guilty.
In Georgia, three fraudulent electors, along with Trump and others, have been charged in a comprehensive indictment accusing them of participating in an illegal scheme to overturn the results. They have pleaded not guilty.
In Wisconsin, 10 Republicans who pretended to be electors agreed to settle a civil lawsuit and admitted their actions were part of a plan to overturn Biden’s win. There is no known criminal investigation in Wisconsin.
Trump was also charged in August in federal court over the fake electors scheme. The charge states that when Trump couldn't convince state officials to illegally change the election, he and his Republican allies started recruiting a group of fake electors in battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — to sign certificates falsely stating he, not Biden, had won their states.
In early January, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said that state’s five Republican electors cannot be prosecuted under the current law. In New Mexico and Pennsylvania, fake electors added a caveat stating the election certificate was submitted in case they were later recognized as duly elected, qualified electors. No charges have been filed in Pennsylvania.
In Arizona, Mayes’ predecessor, Republican Mark Brnovich, conducted an investigation of the 2020 election, but the fake elector allegations were not part of that examination, according to Mayes’ office.
In another election-related case brought by Mayes’ office, two Republican officials in a rural Arizona county who delayed canvassing the 2022 general election results face felony charges. A grand jury indicted Cochise County Supervisors Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby in November on one count each of conspiracy and interference with an election officer. Both pleaded not guilty.
The Republicans facing charges are Kelli Ward, the state GOP’s chair from 2019 until early 2023; state Sen. Jake Hoffman; Tyler Bowyer, an executive of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA who serves on the Republican National Committee; state Sen. Anthony Kern, who was photographed in restricted areas outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack and is now a candidate in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District; Greg Safsten, a former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party; energy industry executive James Lamon, who lost a 2022 Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat; Robert Montgomery, chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee in 2020; Samuel Moorhead, a Republican precinct committee member in Gila County; Nancy Cottle, who in 2020 was the first vice president of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women; Loraine Pellegrino, president of the Ahwatukee Republican Women; and Michael Ward, an osteopathic physician who is married to Kelli Ward.
None of the 11 responded to either phone, email or social media messages from The Associated Press on Wednesday seeking comment.
