this time in Arizona…they’re finally getting around to indicting the usual suspects in the fake electors scheme… from CNN by Zachary Cohen and Holmes Lyband: “Meadows, Giuliani among indicted in Arizona in latest 2020 election subversion case: A grand jury in Arizona has handed up an indictment against former President Donald Trump’s allies over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, including the fake electors from that state and several individuals connected to his campaign.
Boris Epshteyn, a former White House aide who remains one of Trump’s closest advisers; former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; and Rudy Giuliani are among those who have been indicted, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, announced the indictment Wednesday night, focusing on the 11 individuals who acted as pro-Trump electors in the state. The names of several other indicted defendants remain redacted, Mayes said in a statement Wednesday, until those people have been served.
“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,” Mayes said. “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.”
While Trump is not among those charged in Arizona, the details in the indictment suggest he is “Unindicted Coconspirator 1.”
CNN is reaching out to those charged for comment.
Trump allies ‘deceived the citizens of Arizona’ after 2020 election, indictment alleges
The indictment in Arizona includes nine counts, from conspiracy and forgery to engaging in fraudulent schemes. Because the indictment remains partially redacted, it is unclear what charges Trump allies such as Meadows, Epshteyn and Giuliani face.
“In Arizona, and the United States, the people elected Joseph Biden as President on November 3, 2020,” the indictment reads. “Unwilling to accept this fact, Defendants and unindicted coconspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to keep Unindicted Coconspirator 1 in office against the will of Arizona’s voters.”
The scheme, according to the indictment, called for the fake electors to fraudulently vote for Trump, “falsely claiming to be the duly elected and qualified Electors for President and Vice President of the United States from the State of Arizona.”
“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,” the indictment continues. “In reality, Defendants intended that their false votes for Trump-Pence would encourage Pence to reject the Biden-Harris votes on January 6, 2021, regardless of the outcome of the legal challenge.”
This scheme failed on January 6, 2021, when then-Vice President Mike Pence accepted the electoral votes for Joe Biden, the indictment says.” ( we have to give credit to Mike Pence for showing a lot of backbone in rejecting trump and John Eastman’s fake electors scheme…he did the right thing…while trump’s supporters were chanting “hang Mike Pence”…he refused to leave the building before the electoral votes were counted…)
The case in Arizona adds scrutiny to actions taken on Trump’s behalf after the last election. It also comes as Trump’s legal team will argue before the Supreme Court Thursday that he’s immune from prosecution in the federal election interference case – at the same time Trump is on trial in New York related to hush money paid to cover up an alleged affair before the 2016 election.
First charges for Trump legal adviser over 2020 election efforts
Epshteyn has not been charged before in connection with 2020 post-election efforts to reverse Trump’s loss. Serving as a legal adviser to Trump, Epshteyn speaks to the former president regularly, and during certain stretches, multiple times a day. He is widely considered one of Trump’s most ferociously loyal advisers, since joining Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Epshteyn accompanied Trump to New York after his criminal indictment and sat with him in the courtroom while he was arraigned. He was also seen traveling with Trump to arraignments in both Georgia and Washington, DC. While he does not represent him in any of his current legal cases, Epshteyn has played a critical role in the hiring of many of Trump’s lawyers as well as in some of their departures.
After withdrawing from representing Trump in the special counsel’s investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents, Timothy Parlatore, who was brought on by Epshteyn, said differences with Epshteyn spurred his departure.
“He did everything he could do to try to block us,” Parlatore said on CNN.
Others in Trump’s orbit have long said that Epshteyn’s brash behavior could be a liability for Trump.
Eastman and Trump 2020 campaign officials also indicted
While the names of several defendants in the Arizona case remain redacted because they have not yet been served, the indictment does describe their roles in the alleged plot.
Other individuals charged in the Arizona indictment but whose names have been redacted, the source familiar with the investigation told CNN, include Trump allies Mike Roman, a 2020 campaign official; Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis; and conservative attorney John Eastman.
Roman, Ellis and Eastman also were charged in the election subversion case in Georgia, as were Meadows and Giuliani. Ellis pleaded guilty to one charge in the Georgia case. The others have pleaded not guilty.
Meadows, whose name is redacted in the indictment but is listed as Trump’s chief of staff in 2020, “worked with members of the Trump Campaign to coordinate and implement the false Republican electors’ votes in Arizona and six other states,” the indictment says, and “was involved in the many efforts to keep (Trump) in power despite his defeat at the polls.”
The individual who CNN has identified as Giuliani is described as spreading false claims of voter fraud across the country after the 2020 election, falsely claiming Arizona officials “made no effort to find out” if the vote was accurate, and encouraging “Republican electors in Arizona and in six other contested states to vote for Trump-Pence on December 14, 2020,” the indictment says.
Other unnamed defendants allegedly worked to overthrow the 2020 election results by encouraging Pence to reject or delay the certification of the electoral vote on January 6, spreading false claims of voter fraud, encouraging the fake electors and working to implement the fake electors scheme in Arizona.
Eastman’s attorney Charles Burnham told CNN in a statement that his client is innocent of any criminal conduct.
“The phenomenon of partisan lawfare grows more troubling by the day. Professor Eastman is innocent of criminal conduct in Arizona or any other place and will fight these charges as he has all the other unjust accusations leveled against him,” Burnham said.
Arizona state Sen. Jake Hoffman, one of the fake electors charged in the indictment, released a statement on X following the indictment.
“Let me be unequivocal, I am innocent of any crime, I will vigorously defend myself, and I look forward to the day when I am vindicated of this disgusting political persecution by the judicial process,” Hoffman wrote.
The Republican Party of Arizona also slammed the indictments in a statement Wednesday.
“Today’s indictments by Attorney General Kris Mayes represent a blatant and unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial power, aimed solely at distracting the public from the critical policy debates our country should be focusing on as we approach the 2024 election,” the statement said.
Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs told CNN’s Abby Phillip Wednesday that she hoped to see those indicted held accountable.
“As Secretary of State I oversaw free, fair, secure elections in Arizona and defended the votes of millions of Arizonans,” Hobbs said on “NewsNight.” “I am confident that Attorney General Mayes conducted a fair and impartial investigation and grand jury process, and now the justice system will do its job.”
Latest prosecution of fake electors schemes
The Arizona case is the latest state-level prosecution aimed at schemes to upend Biden’s electoral victory. Prosecutors in Michigan, Georgia and Nevada also have brought criminal charges against some of the people who signed on as fake electors in those states. Investigators in Wisconsin are conducting a similar probe.
A grand jury empaneled in Maricopa County, Arizona, to investigate efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state met this week before Mayes announced the charges.
CNN previously reported that Arizona prosecutors had issued a series of grand jury subpoenas to people connected to Trump’s campaign and several individuals who served as fake electors from that state – a sign the probe was accelerating ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Some of the fake electors who were ultimately charged in Arizona recently appeared before the grand jury and cited their Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination, sources familiar with the probe told CNN.
Mayes initially focused her investigation on the 11 fake electors from Arizona and those who helped organize them, but the sources recently told CNN she also was looking into individuals tied to the former president’s national campaign.
“We conducted a thorough and professional investigation over the past 13 months into the fake electoral scheme in our state,” Mayes said Wednesday. “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’ve stated before, and will say here again today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined.”
Several state-level officials from Arizona told the House Select Committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot that Trump and his allies tried to pressure them to decertify the state’s election results.
The fake electors for Trump convened at the state Republican Party headquarters in Phoenix on December 14, 2020. They broadcast themselves preparing to sign the documents, allegedly provided by a Trump campaign attorney, claiming that they were the legitimate representatives of the state’s electoral votes.
By that time, Trump’s loss in the state – by fewer than 11,000 votes – had already been certified by its Republican governor, affirming that Biden won Arizona in the 2020 presidential election. But in the weeks that followed, some of the fake electors continued to push for Pence to reject the legitimate Democratic slate of electors.
The fake elector scheme and pressure campaign on Pence are focal points of special counsel Jack Smith’s federal indictment of Trump.
This story and headline have been updated with additional reporting. CNN’s Kristen Holmes, Rashard Rose, Katelyn Polantz and Jack Hannah contributed to this report.”…I’m waiting for Pennsylvania to get their act together to indict the fake electors here…with Scott Perry in the forefront…
this afternoon, making the film by the skin of our teeth, Elissa, Jed and I went to the Ambler’s showing of Driving Madeleine…I love this movie and wanted Elissa to see it before it left…the 1:15 this afternoon was the last showing…and we did just make it before it started…this movie does not disappoint…later on, my sister, to whom I recommended this film, ordered it and saw it also…she loved it and is spreading the word on the West Coast…I loved it more the second time…tearing up almost through the whole movie because I knew what was coming… Jed and Elissa loved it…you can’t help it…it’s such a good story…thank you Christian Carion for his direction, and his writing the screenplay with Cyril Gely…( I just noticed it’s showing on Friday at the Ambler at 3:45 )…from Showtimes: “Madeleine, a 92-year-old lady living in Paris, calls a taxi to reach the retirement home where she must now live. She asks Charles, a somewhat disillusioned driver, to go through the places that have mattered in her life, to see them one last time. Gradually, along the streets of Paris, an extraordinary history emerges, and Charles discovers the overwhelming past of the nonagenarian.”…a must see…and extraordinary film from 2021 just now being discovered…if you can get yourself to the Ambler this Friday at 3:45…
to top the day off, Elissa had invited Pam and Julia and Susan and me for dinner at the 501…she reserved a table for us in the main dining room…we were all to meet in the lobby at 5:15…meanwhile, after the movie I offered to take Elissa and Jed on errands…to Glenside for a few things she needed…Jed picked up some wine, a red, a Malbec and a white, Sauvignon Blanc for dinner tonight…and we stopped at Produce Junction so I could buy her flowers for her apartment…I bought her an orchid…they were back again…and orange roses and orange tulips for a splash of color in the apartment…we were back at the 501 for an hour to rest and relax…I brought my book but didn’t read a page…( until I got home )…trying to finish before I take it back to the Library on the 27th… dinner was so much fun…as usual…when we all get together…Julia was a little late, coming from town…but she made it on time while we were ordering…and she and Pam ordered the best thing…the mushroom rivoli with a creamy pesto sauce…most had Caesar salad…I had the spinach, red onion, strawberry and almond salad…it was delicious…in fact, the entire dinner was delicious and fun…as well as fun…we retired to her apartment for laughs and fun…Susan had to get home before dark, she doesn’t like to drive in the dark anymore…we all left a little before 9:00…Julia had brought the stuff she bought for me at Costco…so the hand off took place…all is well, home again jiggety jig…to plant myself on the sofa to watch MSNBC…the trump trial was dark today…it’s said tomorrow that the Supreme Court hears arguments on trump’s immunity claim…which the Court took up and delayed for trump the argument…and now, probably won’t be making any ruling for another month or two…just what trump wanted…from Rolling Stone by Adam Rawnsley, Asawin Suebsaeng: “Team Trump Is Ready to Lose the Supreme Court Immunity Case. They’re Celebrating: Trump’s lawyers don’t expect the Supreme Court to bless his absurd immunity claims. “We already pulled off the heist,” says a source close to Trump: Donald Trump‘s inner circle doesn’t expect the Supreme Court to go along with his extreme arguments about executive power in the immunity case before the justices. But what the high court does now is almost beside the point: Trump already won.
Three people with direct knowledge of the matter tell Rolling Stone that many of the former president’s lawyers and political advisers have already accepted that the justices will likely rule against him, and reject his claims to expansive presidential immunity in perpetuity. Bringing the case before the court — after a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., shut down their arguments on executive power — was a delaying tactic designed to push Trump’s criminal election subversion trial past Election Day this fall. The strategy paid off so much more than MAGAworld anticipated.
“We already pulled off the heist,” says a source close to Trump, noting it doesn’t matter to them what the Supreme Court decides now.
Trump’s lawyers and other confidants had widely expected — and had told the former president as much — that the court maneuver would delay the election subversion trial, but perhaps only to around the summer. For months, Trump attorneys were actively preparing themselves and their client to face a trial, over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his role in the violent Jan. 6 assault at the U.S. Capitol, right around the time of the Republican Party’s nominating convention, the sources add.
If the federal trial were to proceed during this election year, much of Team Trump had predicted it would be significantly more damaging politically to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee than, for instance, his ongoing criminal hush-money trial in Manhattan.
“We planned for that exhausting schedule and split screen,” says a person involved with the planning.
But the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority, which Trump built as president, came through for him in a way that many Trump advisers didn’t believe was probable. When news broke in late February that the court would take up Trump’s claims of vast immunity, Trumpland was so elated that a lawyer close to Trump told Rolling Stone they were “literally popping champagne.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith had initially tried to expedite the election subversion case by asking the Supreme Court to rule on Trump’s immunity claims, even as a lower appeals court considered Trump’s arguments in December of 2023. The court denied the special counsel’s request, helping to delay the process as the case wound its way through the appeals court.
The Supreme Court later agreed to consider Trump’s claims — handing Trump a major win, as it almost certainly pushed his trial back past Election Day in November. For Trump’s 2024 campaign and his top attorneys, the battle ended there and has been over for two months now.
While Trump’s lawyers don’t broadly expect the Supreme Court to accept the former president’s views on immunity, there is of course risk that the ultra-conservative court does bless them to some extent — and his claims are extreme, to say the least.
Throughout the process, Trump’s lawyers have argued along two fronts. First, they have claimed that impeachment is the only constitutional avenue for handling criminal acts committed by a president while in office, regardless of when he is prosecuted for them. The Senate failed to convict Trump on charges that he incited the Jan. 6 insurrection, when it impeached him a second time shortly after he left office. His lawyers claim that any attempt to prosecute him outside of the impeachment framework represents an unconstitutional form of double jeopardy.
Second, Trump’s attorneys have tried to argue that principles from civil cases against sitting presidents — where precedent holds that the chief executive enjoys absolute civil immunity for all official acts committed within the “outer perimeter” of his office — somehow also apply to the criminal case against him and prohibit prosecution.
After Trump’s attorneys appealed a district court’s dismissal of their arguments, they appealed to the federal appeals court in Washington.
During oral arguments before the appeals court, judges were incredulous at the implications of Trump’s views on executive power absent the check of criminal accountability. One stunned judge asked Trump’s lawyers, “Could a president who ordered SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival, and is not impeached, would he be subject to criminal prosecution?”
The response from Trump’s lawyer, John Sauer, was chilling: “If he were impeached and convicted first … my answer is qualified yes, there is a political process that would have to occur first,” he said. In other words, under Trump’s vision of immunity, he could not be prosecuted for ordering an assassination — he would first have to be impeached and convicted.
At the Supreme Court, Sauer has argued the justices should not concern themselves with “lurid hypotheticals” that “almost certainly never will occur, and would virtually certainly result in impeachment and Senate conviction … if they did occur.”…so we see, not only is judge Aileen Cannon helping trump…the Supreme Court is also…most likely, neither of Jack Smith’s cases will start until after the November 2024 election…giving trump exactly what he wanted…his tactic…delay, delay, delay…maybe the Arizona indictments of trump’s allies will help a little before the election…I certainly hope so…
Art Salazar 