Top Trump 2020 Aides And Lawyers Indicted in Arizona Over Fake Elector Scheme to Subvert Election

Photographer: Victor J. Blue for The Washington Post/ Pool

A state grand jury in Arizona charged top 2020 Trump campaign aides and lawyers alongside 11 so-called “fake electors” on Wednesday over their efforts to alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in the state.

The indictment lists the 11 fake electors, but redacted the names of seven other individuals who were indicted following the investigation led by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D). The Washington Post reported the names of those seven individuals as “former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman and Christina Bobb, top campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn and former campaign aide Mike Roman.”

“They are accused of allegedly aiding an unsuccessful strategy to award the state’s electoral votes to Trump instead of Biden after the 2020 election,” the Post added.

The felony charges stem from the 11 Trump supporters gathering at the Arizona GOP’s headquarters following the 2020 election to sign fraudulent certifications claiming to be Arizona’s 11 official electors to the Electoral College, with the intent that their votes would eventually be counted for Donald Trump — despite Joe Biden winning the state.

Ex-Arizona Republican Party chairwoman Kelli Ward is among those charged for her role as a fake electoral. Politico’s Kyle Cheney noted that Trump himself is listed as an unindicted co-coconspirator.

Arizona is now the fourth swing state to indict pro-Trump fake electors, following Michigan, Georgia, and Nevada. A key pillar of Trump’s plan to overturn the 2020 election and stay in power included creating slates of so-called “fake electors” to replace the duly certified Biden electors when Congress counted the Electoral College votes on January 6th. Trump and his allies counted on then-Vice President Mike Pence to throw out the Biden electors and allow for the Republicans in the House to consider the pro-Trump electors to be counted.

Mayes released a video with the indictment and noted of her investigation, “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’ve stated before, and we’ll say here again, today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined.”

This is a developing story and has been updated.

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