Arizona attorney general to appeal 'fake electors' ruling

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(The Center Square) – Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Friday she will appeal a ruling in the “fake electors” case.

She is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that she must send the case back to a grand jury.

A May ruling by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers said Mayes had to do so because jurors weren’t given the text of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which the defense said was crucial to its case. In September, the state Court of Appeals upheld Myers' ruling, and Mayes is appealing that decision.

Myers said a prosecutor must instruct a grand jury on all of the law relevant to a case.

Mayes argued Friday that the grand jury did its job.

“An independent grand jury of ordinary Arizonans found that there was sufficient cause to charge the defendants with the alleged crimes,” Mayes said in a statement.

In April 2024, 11 Arizona Republicans were indicted by the grand jury for allegedly signing and submitting a document on Dec. 14, 2010, claiming Trump had won Arizona’s 11 electoral votes and that they were the electors. Those 11 were Kelli Ward, Michael Ward, Tyler Bowyer, Nancy Cottle, state Sen. Jake Hoffman, former state Sen. Anthony Kern, James Lamon, Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Gregory Safsten and Lorraine Pellegrino.

But Trump, the Republican incumbent, lost the state’s popular vote, and therefore its electoral votes, to former Democratic President Joe Biden by 10,457 votes.

Also indicted were ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former lawyer; Mark Meadows, a White House chief of staff during Trump's first term; Trump campaign aides Boris Epshteyn and Mike Roman; and attorneys Christina Bobb, John Eastman and Jenna Ellis.

The 18 defendants pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, fraud and forgery.

“These defendants were charged based on two things: the facts and the law,” Mayes said Friday. “We remain squarely focused on ensuring the defendants are held accountable because there is nothing more important than enforcing the rule of law.”

Charges were dropped against Ellis in exchange for her agreement to help prosecutors. And as part of a plea deal, Pellegrino pleaded guilty to a lesser, misdemeanor charge of filing a false document.

Trump pardoned all 18 defendants, but that was only for any federal crimes.

Trump himself was not indicted.