Michigan prosecution of fake electors

Last updated

Michigan v. Berden
Ingham County Circuit Court seal.svg
Court Ingham County Circuit Court
Full case namePeople of the State of Michigan v. Kathy Berden, et al
Docket nos.2022-0343234-A (district court proceedings)
Charge
List of charges
  • Forgery
  • Conspiracy to commit forgery
  • Election law forgery
  • Conspiracy to commit election law forgery
  • Uttering and publishing
  • Conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing

People of the State of Michigan v. Berden et al. is a state criminal prosecution concerning the Trump fake electors plot in Michigan. The sixteen defendants are accused of producing and attempting to use a false certificate of ascertainment containing electoral votes for Donald Trump, who had lost the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Michigan. The defendants were indicted in July 2023 on criminal charges of forgery, uttering, and conspiracy, all felonies.

Contents

Background

Planning

Joe Biden won Michigan's electoral votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election by about 154,000 votes, or about three percentage points. [1] Attempts to cause Michigan's electoral vote to be counted for Donald Trump instead were spearheaded by Rudolph Giuliani and John Eastman in support of the Trump campaign. The plan targeted seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. [2] [3] [4]

Initially, Giuliani in a series of hearings in December 2020 publicly urged Michigan lawmakers to award the state's electoral votes to Trump, but was unsuccessful. [4] The Trump electoral slates were then convened anyway, using the justification that they would be alternate slates to be used in case Texas v. Pennsylvania was ruled in favor of Trump. However, that case was thrown out on December 11, 2020, three days before the electoral vote was to occur, a fact that was withheld from most of the defendants by Giuliani and Kenneth Chesebro. [5]

Creation of false electoral documents

Michigan Republican Party chair Laura Cox said that according to an unnamed Trump campaign lawyer, the initial plan was to have electors hide overnight in the Michigan State Capitol, but she opposed that plan. [2] [6] The defendants instead met in the basement of the state Republican Party headquarters on December 14, 2020. [7] Two members of the nominated Republican electoral slate — one of whom was former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land — did not attend, and were replaced. A Trump campaign aide was present as well, according to one of the defendants. [1]

The participants' level of involvement in the scheme varied. False elector Meshawn Maddock and her husband, state representative Matt Maddock, had long-standing ties to Trump and were in direct contact with Trump campaign officials. [4] [8] On the other hand, false elector Michele Lundgren told reporters that she had received a call to participate only the previous day and thought the document was a sign-in sheet. [1]

They produced and signed multiple documents falsely stating they were the duly elected and qualified electors in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and that they had placed electoral votes for Donald Trump. [7] Unlike in some other states, the Michigan false certificate of ascertainment did not contain language specifying it was to be used only if the Trump campaign prevailed in litigation, and at the time, all court challenges in Michigan had already been resolved. [2] The documents were then sent to the U.S. Senate and National Archives, [7] as well as the Office of the Federal Register, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and the federal U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. [9]

External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Republicans try to deliver their own electoral votes to Michigan Capitol—Detroit Free Press

Four defendants later that day attempted to enter the Michigan State Capitol with State Representative Daire Rendon, appearing to present the falsified certificate to gain entry into the building and claiming to be true electors, but they were turned away by the Michigan State Police [1] due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions preventing anyone without official business from entering. [10]

Subsequent events

In March 2021, the watchdog group American Oversight posted copies of the false documents from several states, including Michigan, obtained from the National Archives via a freedom of information request. [9] [11] However, the documents were largely overlooked until the story was reported by Politico in January 2022. [4] [12]

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel began an investigation in 2021. In January 2022, she publicly confirmed the state investigation but closed it in favor of asking the federal Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation, citing jurisdictional issues. [9] However, Nessel announced in January 2023 that she was reopening the state investigation due to perceived inaction from the federal investigation on the matter. [13]

Two of the defendants, Kathy Berden and Mayra Rodriguez, along with a lawyer who tried to deliver the fraudulent certificates of ascertainment, were subpoenaed by the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack in June 2022. [13] [14] Both testified before the committee, but largely avoided responding to questions by pleading the Fifth. [15]

In January 2023, three of the lawful Michigan electors filed a civil lawsuit against the false electors in Kent County Circuit Court. [16]

On April 24, 2024 at a pretrial hearing for the case, Michigan's Special agent Howard Shock was asked to confirm if other individuals were co-conspirators in the case. He answered "Yes" to the following names: Donald Trump, Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. [17] According to the news report, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, did not provide a comment about the revelation.

Proceedings

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed the charges on July 18, 2023. [7] All defendants were charged with the following eight felonies: [18]

In cases where there are two counts, they are for two documents relating to the presidential and vice-presidential elections.

Defendants

All 16 signers of the false documents were charged: [1] [18] [19]

The arraignments were held in the 54-A District Court in Ingham County. [18] All 16 of the defendants had been arraigned by August 10, 2023, and all pleaded not guilty. [20] [21]

Nessel's office disclosed during an April 2024 court hearing that Trump, Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis were unindicted co-conspirators. [22]

Preliminary hearings

Probable cause hearings are required before the cases are transferred to the 30th Judicial Circuit Court for trial. [23] Several preliminary hearings were scheduled for dates ranging from September 2023 through January 2024. [24]

On October 19, 2023, the Attorney General's office announced that it was dropping charges against James Renner in exchange for a cooperation agreement. [25]

The defendants were split into two groups for the hearings. [26] In February 2024, a preliminary hearing was held for six of the defendants, with Renner and others testifying. The remaining nine defendants were planned to have preliminary hearings at a later date. [27]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Kern</span> American politician

Anthony Kern is an American politician and a Republican member of the Arizona Senate, representing District 27 since 2023. He previously represented District 20 in the State House of Representatives from January 5, 2015, to January 11, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Nessel</span> American politician and lawyer (born 1969)

Dana Michelle Nessel is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 54th Attorney General of Michigan since January 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Matthew Maddock is an American politician in the Republican Party serving as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives. His district, the 51st, represents areas covering part of Oakland County. In his first term, Maddock was appointed to be the Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, as well as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. A Republican, Maddock was first elected in 2018. Prior to being elected to the 110-member Michigan House of Representatives, he was a businessman in Oakland County.

Daire Rendon is an American politician who served in the Michigan House of Representatives from the 103rd district from 2017 to 2023, succeeding her husband, Bruce, who was term-limited in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republican reactions to Donald Trump's claims of 2020 election fraud</span>

Members of the United States Republican Party have reacted differently to Republican president Donald Trump's false claims about the 2020 United States presidential election, with many publicly supporting them, many remaining silent, and a few publicly denouncing them. Trump falsely claimed to have won the election, and made many false and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. By December 11, 2020, 126 out of 196 Republican members of the House backed a lawsuit filed in the United States Supreme Court supported by nineteen Republican state attorneys general seeking to subvert the election and overturn the election results. The Trump campaign hired the Berkeley Research Group to investigate whether there had been voter fraud. The researchers found nothing, and the consultancy reported this to Trump and his chief of staff Mark Meadows on a conference call in the final days of the year, before the attack on the Capitol.

After the 2020 United States presidential election, the campaign for incumbent President Donald Trump and others filed 62 lawsuits contesting election processes, vote counting, and the vote certification process in 9 states and the District of Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election</span> U.S. historical and political event

After Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election, Republican nominee and then-incumbent president Donald Trump pursued an unprecedented effort to overturn the election, with support and assistance from his campaign, proxies, political allies, and many of his supporters. These efforts culminated in the January 6 United States Capitol attack by Trump supporters, which was widely described as an attempted coup d'état. One week later, Trump was impeached for incitement of insurrection but was acquitted by the Senate by a vote of 57–43, 10 votes short of the 67 votes required to convict him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenna Ellis</span> American lawyer (born 1984)

Jenna Lynn Ellis is an American conservative lawyer who was a member of Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign's legal team. She is a former deputy district attorney in Weld County, Colorado. During the Trump presidency, she presented herself as a "constitutional law attorney" during cable news appearances, though The New York Times reported that her background did not reflect such expertise and The Wall Street Journal reported that she had no history in any federal cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 United States Electoral College vote count</span> Last step of 2020 presidential election

The count of the Electoral College ballots during a joint session of the 117th United States Congress, pursuant to the Electoral Count Act, on January 6–7, 2021, was the final step to confirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election over President Donald Trump.

Meshawn Maddock is an American politician in the Republican Party who served as co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 2021 to 2023 along with Chair Ronald Weiser. Previously, she was Chair of the 11th Congressional District for the Michigan Republican Party. She is married to Republican Michigan State Representative Matt Maddock. Maddock was charged with fraud in regards to her role as a fake elector for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Hoffman (Arizona politician)</span> American politician

Jake Hoffman is an Arizona state senator in Arizona's 15th district. He was previously a state representative in Arizona's 12th district. He was elected to the seat after incumbent Republican Warren Petersen decided to run for the Arizona Senate. He and incumbent Travis Grantham won in a two–seat election in 2020, both defeating Democrat Kristin Clark by over 85,000 votes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Michigan Attorney General election</span> Election for Attorney General of Michigan

The 2022 Michigan Attorney General election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Attorney General of the state of Michigan. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel ran for re-election to a second term. She was first elected in 2018 with 49.0% of the vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christina Bobb</span> American lawyer (born 1982)

Christina Bobb is an American lawyer, television personality and Republican Party official. She gained prominence for her television promotion of president Donald Trump and involvement in attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and promotion of the false allegation that the election had been stolen from Trump by fraud. She was involved in the FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of government documents. Prior to working as a Trump attorney, she was an executive secretary for the Department of Homeland Security and in 2020 became an anchor at One America News Network, a far-right, pro-Trump cable channel. The Republican National Committee named Bobb to lead its election integrity program in March 2024. Bobb and seventeen other Arizona Republicans and Trump associates were indicted in April 2024 for their alleged involvement in the Trump fake electors plot to subvert the 2020 presidential election.

Kenneth John Chesebro is an American attorney known as the architect of the Trump fake electors plot that conspired to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election. On August 14, 2023, Chesebro was indicted along with eighteen others in the Georgia election racketeering prosecution.

After the results of the 2020 United States presidential election determined U.S. president Donald Trump had lost, a scheme was devised by him, his associates and Republican Party officials in seven states to subvert the election by creating and submitting fraudulent certificates of ascertainment to falsely claim Trump had won the electoral college vote in those states. The intent of the scheme was to pass the fraudulent certificates to then-vice president Mike Pence in the hope he would count them, rather than the authentic certificates, and thus overturn Joe Biden's victory. This scheme was buttressed by a fringe legal theory developed by Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and John Eastman, detailed in the Eastman memos, which claimed a vice president has the constitutional discretion to swap official electors with an alternate slate during the certification process, thus changing the outcome of the electoral college vote and the overall winner of the presidential race. The scheme came to be known as the Pence Card. By April 2024, dozens of Republican state officials and Trump associates had been indicted in four states for their alleged involvement. The federal Smith special counsel investigation is investigating Trump's role in the events. Testimony has revealed that Trump was fully aware of the fake electors scheme, and knew that Eastman's plan for Pence to obstruct the certification of electoral votes was a violation of the Electoral Count Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Georgia election investigation</span> Investigation into Donald Trump and allies

In February 2021, Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney Fani Willis launched a criminal investigation into alleged efforts by then-president Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the certified 2020 election victory of Democratic candidate Joe Biden and award the state's electoral college votes to Trump. A special grand jury recommended indictments in January 2023, followed by a grand jury that indicted Trump and 18 allies in August 2023. The charges include conspiracy, racketeering and other felonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia election racketeering prosecution</span> State RICO case against Trump, Giuliani and others

The State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, et al. is a pending criminal case against Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, and 18 co-defendants. The prosecution alleges that Trump led a "criminal racketeering enterprise", in which he and all other defendants "knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome" of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia. All defendants are charged with one count of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, which has a penalty of five to twenty years in prison. The indictment comes in the context of Trump's broader effort to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. As of February 2024, it is one of four ongoing criminal indictments against Trump.

Kent Vanderwood is an American politician who is the mayor of Wyoming, Michigan, previously serving as a city council member for four terms from 2006 to 2022. In July 2023 he was charged for his participation in the Trump fake electors plot during the 2020 United States presidential election. As a result, calls for his recall or resignation were advanced. Mayor Vanderwood says he will not resign.

State of Arizona v. Kelli Ward, et al. is a state criminal prosecution concerning the Trump fake electors plot in Arizona. The eighteen defendants, including Kelli Ward, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and Boris Epshteyn, are accused of producing and attempting to use a false certificate of ascertainment containing electoral votes for Donald Trump, who had lost the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Arizona.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Mauger, Craig; LeBlanc, Beth (July 18, 2023). "16 false Trump electors face felony charges in Michigan". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Gardner, Amy; Marley, Patrick; Sanchez, Yvonne Wingett; Dawsey, Josh (August 8, 2023). "'Fake' elector plot raised concerns over legal peril, indictment shows". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on August 8, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  3. ↑ Feuer, Alan; Benner, Katie (July 27, 2022). "The Fake Electors Scheme, Explained". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Cohen, Marshall; Cohen, Zachary; Merica, Dan (January 20, 2022). "Trump campaign officials, led by Rudy Giuliani, oversaw fake electors plot in 7 states". CNN. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  5. ↑ Pilkington, Ed; Levine, Sam (August 5, 2023). "Inside Trump's 'alternate electors' plot to steal the vote in Georgia". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol" (PDF). U.S. House of Representatives. December 22, 2022. p. 354. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Schneider, Joe (July 18, 2023). "Michigan Charges Fake Trump Electors With Scheme to Swing 2020". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  8. ↑ Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em (September 7, 2023). "Michigan fake elector described planning with Trump campaign attorneys: 'Mike Pence and Congress [to] make that decision'". CNN. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 Eggert, David (January 14, 2022). "Michigan AG asks feds to investigate fake GOP electors". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  10. ↑ Haberman, Maggie; Broadwater, Luke (July 26, 2022). "'Kind of Wild/Creative': Emails Shed Light on Trump Fake Electors Plan". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  11. ↑ "American Oversight Obtains Seven Phony Certificates of Pro-Trump Electors". American Oversight (Press release). March 2, 2021. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  12. ↑ Wu, Nicholas (January 10, 2022). "Jan. 6 panel ramps up investigation into Trump's state-level pressure". Politico . Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  13. 1 2 Boucher, Dave (June 3, 2022). "Nessel reopens criminal probe of GOP 'fake electors' after no word from feds". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  14. ↑ Orner, Ben (June 23, 2022). "Michigan false electors served federal subpoenas as Jan. 6 probe intensifies". mlive. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  15. ↑ Donahue, Allison R. (December 22, 2022). "Jan. 6 committee releases testimony of Ryan Kelley, two fake Michigan electors". Michigan Advance . Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  16. ↑ Mauger, Craig (January 12, 2023). "Michigan Biden electors sue false Trump slate, seeking declaration plot was illegal". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  17. ↑ Cohen, Marshall (April 24, 2024). "Trump is unindicted co-conspirator in 2020 Michigan fake electors probe, investigator testifies | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  18. 1 2 3 "Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Charges 16 'False Electors' with Election Law and Forgery Felonies". Michigan Department of Attorney General. July 18, 2023. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  19. ↑ Cohen, Marshall (July 18, 2023). "What we know about the 16 fake electors charged in Michigan | CNN Politics". CNN. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  20. ↑ Cohen, Marshall (August 10, 2023). "Michigan's fake GOP electors arraigned on state charges". CNN. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  21. ↑ Lobo, Arpan; Hendrickson, Clara (August 10, 2023). "Michigan 'fake electors' charged in election scheme plead not guilty during arraignments". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  22. ↑ Romero, Laura (April 24, 2024). "Trump, Giuliani, Meadows are unindicted co-conspirators in Michigan fake elector case, hearing reveals". ABC News.
  23. ↑ LeBlanc, Beth (August 4, 2023). "Judge delays hearing for former GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock in false Trump electors case". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on August 17, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  24. ↑ Davidson, Kyle (August 18, 2023). "Court sets dates for examination in Michigan 2020 false electors cases". Michigan Advance. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  25. ↑ Cappelletti, Joey (October 19, 2023). "Michigan Republican charged in false elector plot agrees to cooperation deal". AP News. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  26. ↑ Meyers, Elle (January 30, 2024). "Group of alleged Michigan fake electors appear in district court - CBS Detroit". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  27. ↑ Williams, Corey (February 13, 2024). "Fake Michigan Certificate of Votes mailed to U.S. Senate after 2020 presidential vote, official says". AP News. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.