Nevada prosecution of fake electors

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Nevada v. McDonald
State Seal of Nevada.svg
Court Nevada District Court, Clark County
Nevada District Court, Carson City
Full case name State of Nevada v. Michael J. McDonald, et al.
Docket nos.C-23-379122-4 [1]
Charge
  • Uttering forged instruments
  • Offering a false instrument for filing or record (Clark County only)
Court membership
Judge sittingMary Kay Holthus

State of Nevada v. Michael J. McDonald, et al. is a state criminal prosecution of participants in the Trump fake electors plot in Nevada. The six defendants were each indicted on two felony forgery charges related to documents that falsely claimed that Donald Trump won the state's electoral votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Nevada. [2] [3] Among the accused are Michael J. McDonald, the chair of the Nevada Republican Party, and Clark County Republican chairman Jesse Law. [4]

Contents

In December 2023, a grand jury issued an indictment in Clark County. All six defendants pleaded not guilty. In June 2024, a judge dismissed the case on the grounds of improper venue; however, the Supreme Court of Nevada overturned the dismissal in November 2025.

Background

Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, and carried the state of Nevada, defeating Republican nominee Donald Trump in the popular vote by 33,596 votes, and gaining all of the state's six electoral votes. [5] Trump and his allies, however, refused to accept the election results and launched an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to remain in power via subverting the election results. [6]

In 2022, during the investigation of the U.S. House select committee on the January 6 attack, Nevada GOP chair Michael J. McDonald and Nevada GOP secretary James DeGraffenreid were both subpoenaed on January 28 and deposed on February 24. [7] [8]

In May 2023, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford testified that the fake electors would likely not be charged as he did not believe they had violated any specific law. However, in November 2023, it was reported that Ford was actively investigating individuals who had acted as fake electors. [9]

Defendants

The defendants are:

Pretrial proceedings

Indictment and arraignment

On December 5, 2023, a Nevada grand jury in the District Court for Clark County issued an indictment charging six Nevada Republicans. The indictment stems from the sending of a document falsely ascertaining that Trump had won the state. Each of the six defendants was charged with two felony counts: [10] [11]

Nevada was the third state to bring charges in the fake elector scheme, after Georgia and Michigan. Arizona later became the fourth state to bring charges. [12] If convicted, they faced between one and five years in prison. [11]

The six defendants were arraigned on December 16, 2023; all pleaded not guilty. [13] [14] Judge Mary Kay Holthus set the trial for March 11, 2024. This was later moved to January 13, 2025. [14]

Dismissal and reinstatement

On June 21, 2024, the judge presiding over the case dismissed it on the basis that Clark County (which includes Las Vegas) was the wrong venue for the case as no elements of the alleged crime had occurred there; the casting of votes had occurred in Carson City and the documents were mailed from Douglas County. [15] [16]

The Nevada attorney general appealed to the Supreme Court of Nevada the following month, and the court heard arguments a year later. [17] [18] [19] In the meantime, on December 12, 2024, prosecutors re-filed the uttering forged instruments charges in Carson City. [20] [21] [22] Because the statute of limitations for the filing false instruments charges had expired in December 2023, state prosecutors were not able to initiate a new case on those charges, although the forgery charges have a statute of limitations that is one year longer. [15] [23]

On November 13, 2025, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled 6–0 that the case could proceed in Clark County. This was seen as a favorable decision for state prosecutors, as the jury pool in Clark County was seen as potentially more favorable to them than in Carson City. [24] [25]

References

  1. ↑ "indictment - Attorney General - State of Nevada" (PDF). December 6, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  2. ↑ Gardner, Amy; Wingett Sanchez, Yvonne (December 6, 2023). "Pro-Trump electors indicted in Nevada, the third state to issue charges". The Washington Post . Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  3. ↑ "6 'fake electors' for Trump are indicted in Nevada". NPR . December 6, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  4. ↑ Leingang, Rachel (December 6, 2023). "Six Nevada Republicans charged with casting fake electoral votes in 2020". The Guardian . Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  5. ↑ Renshaw, Jarrett (February 4, 2024). "Biden courts Nevada voters after narrow 2020 win". Reuters . Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  6. ↑ Broadwater, Luke; Haberman, Maggie (March 4, 2024). "Newly Released Messages Detail Roots of the 'Fake Electors' Scheme". The New York Times . Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  7. ↑ Nobles, Ryan; Cohen, Marshall; Cohen, Zachary; Grayer, Annie (January 28, 2022). "January 6 committee subpoenas individuals tied to fake elector push". CNN. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Select Committee subpoenas "alternate electors" from seven states". webharvest.gov archive of january6th.house.gov. January 6 Committee. January 28, 2022. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  9. ↑ Woodruff Swan, Betsy (November 15, 2023). "Nevada attorney general is investigating false electors who aided Trump in 2020". Politico . Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  10. ↑ Korecki, Natasha (December 6, 2023). "Nevada grand jury indicts 'fake electors' who backed Trump in 2020". NBC News . Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  11. 1 2 Durkee, Alison (December 5, 2023). "'Fake' Pro-Trump Electors Indicted In Nevada". Forbes. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  12. ↑ Brangham, William; Schmitz, Ali (December 7, 2023). "Nevada charges pro-Trump fake electors accused of attempting to overturn 2020 election". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  13. ↑ Cohen, Marshall (December 18, 2023). "Nevada fake electors plead not guilty to state charges; trial set for March". CNN . Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  14. 1 2 Ritter, Ken (March 4, 2024). "Nevada fake electors won't stand trial until January 2025 under judge's new schedule". The Associated Press . Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  15. 1 2 "Judge dismisses Nevada fake electors case over lack of jurisdiction". The Nevada Independent. June 21, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  16. ↑ Markus, Nicole; Marley, Patrick (June 21, 2024). "Nevada judge dismisses case against Trump electors, citing jurisdiction". The Washington Post . Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  17. ↑ Yamat, Rio (July 27, 2024). "Nevada attorney general appeals to state high court in effort to revive fake electors case". AP News. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  18. ↑ Birenbaum, Gabby (July 26, 2024). "AG appeals Nevada fake electors case to state Supreme Court". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Nevada Supreme Court hears arguments on fake electors case venue". News 4. August 6, 2025. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Six Republicans in Nevada again charged for 2020 fake elector scheme". The Guardian. Associated Press. December 13, 2024. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  21. ↑ Hakim, Danny; Simmons, Dan (December 12, 2024). "Prosecutors in Three States Press Ahead with Election Interference Cases". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  22. ↑ Cohen, Marshall (December 12, 2024). "Nevada attorney general refiles charges against 2020 fake electors". CNN.
  23. ↑ Gentry, Dana (June 24, 2024). "Appeal not Nevada attorney general's only option for pursuing fake electors". Nevada Current. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  24. ↑ Cheney, Kyle (November 13, 2025). "Nevada Supreme Court revives criminal case over Trump elector gambit". Politico. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
  25. ↑ Cohen, Marshall (November 14, 2025). "Nevada Supreme Court rules case against pro-Trump 'fake electors' can proceed in Las Vegas". CNN. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
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