A grand jury indicted 18 Republicans who falsely declared that former President Donald Trump won Arizona in the 2020 presidential election, according to The Associated Press.
Update 7:15 a.m. EDT April 25: Eleven people were initially named in the indictment but another seven — including former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — are also facing charges but were not immediately named because they had yet to be informed of the charges against them.
Giuliani and Meadows were identified based on the defendants’ descriptions, the AP reported.
Giuliani was described as an attorney “who was often identified as the Mayor,” while Meadows was called Trump’s “chief of staff in 2020.”
Meadows’ attorney, George Terwilliger, said the case “is a blatantly political and politicized accusation and will be contested and defeated,” while Giuliani’s political adviser Ted Goodman called the charges “the continued weaponization of our justice system.”
— Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Update 8:34 p.m. EDT April 24: Of those indicted, Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani are among the people who have been indicted, according to the AP.
Original story: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes made the announcement Wednesday, according to KTVK.
Biden won Arizona by 10,457 votes, according to The Washington Post.
This makes Arizona the fourth state to bring charges against “fake electors, the AP reported. Other states include Nevada, Michigan and Georgia.
“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 team,” Mayes said, according to the AP. “These are serious indictments, but this is the first hurdle the state must pass in our constitutional criminal justice system.”
The “fake electors” were made up of 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors and met in the Phoenix area on Dec. 14, 2020. According to the AP, they met to sign a document that they were the “duly elected and qualified” electors. They also claimed that Trump won the state. That document was sent to Congress and the National Archives.
Video of the signing was shared to the Arizona Republican Party’s Facebook page when it was held.
Those facing charges include Kelli Ward, Sen. Jake Hoffman, Tyler Bowyer, Sen. Anthony Kern, Greg Safsten, James Lamon, Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Nancy Cottle, Loraine Pellegrino and Michael Ward, according to Maye’s office.
In addition to the 11, seven others were indicted however, in the records that Mayes released, their names were blacked out, the AP reported. Their names are expected to be released once they receive the charges.
Those indicted were charged with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, the AP reported.
Trump was not charged but is listed as an “unindicted co-conspirator,” according to the Post.
The full indictment can be read here.
Arizona indictment by National Content Desk on Scribd
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