Michigan charges 16 fake electors for Donald Trump with election law and forgery felonies

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LANSING, Mich. (AP) Michigans attorney general filed felony charges Tuesday against 16 Republicans who acted as fake voters for former President Donald Trump in 2020, accusing them of submitting false certificates proving they were legitimate voters. despite Joe Bidens victory in the state.

Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that all 16 people would face eight criminal charges, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election fraud. The top charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

The group included the head of the Republican National Committees chapter in Michigan, Kathy Berden, as well as the former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, Meshawn Maddock, and Shelby Township Clerk Stan Grot.

In seven battleground states, including Michigan, Trump supporters signed certificates falsely saying he won their states, not Biden. The fake certificates were ignored, but the attempt was subject to investigations, including the House committee that investigated the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.

Voter misconduct undermines public faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also clearly violates the laws under which we administer our elections in Michigan, Nessel said in a statement.

The 16 individuals are scheduled to appear for arraignment in Ingham County on a date each was given by the court, according to Nessels’ office.

Phone and email messages seeking comment Tuesday from some of the people charged were not immediately returned.

One of those charged, John Haggard, 82, of Charlevoix, told The Detroit News on Tuesday that he does not believe he did anything wrong.

Did I do something illegal? No, Haggard said.

GOP state Sen. Ed McBroom, who chaired a GOP-led Senate panel to investigate Michigans 2020 presidential election that found no wrongdoing, said he had previously spoken to one of the fake voters. Clearly, McBroom said, the effort was orchestrated by people who put themselves in a position of authority and pretended to be people who knew what they were doing.

They made a mistake, McBroom told The Associated Press. And other people followed them when they shouldn’t have.

Berden and Mayra Rodriguez, a Michigan attorney who was also indicted Tuesday, were both questioned by congressional investigators as part of a US House panel’s probe into the Jan. 6 insurrection.

In January of last year, Nessel asked federal prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into 16 Republicans.

It was clearly part of a larger conspiracy, he said at the time.

Electors are people appointed to represent voters in presidential elections. The winner of the popular vote in each state determines which parties electors are sent to the Electoral College, which meets in December after the election to certify the result.

False Electoral College certificates were also submitted declaring Trump the winner of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Investigations are underway in some other states that submitted fake voters, but not all.

A Georgia prosecutor investigating possible illegal interference in the 2020 election has agreed to immunity deals with at least eight voter fraud. And the Arizona Democratic attorney general is in the very early stages of an investigation. Nevada’s Attorney General, also a Democrat, has said he will not bring charges, while Wisconsin has no active investigation and the attorney general has been deferred to the US Justice Department.

There is no apparent investigation in Pennsylvania and former Attorney General Josh Shapiro, now governor, has said he does not believe there is evidence that the actions of fraudulent voters meet the legal criteria for fraud.

A group of other Trump allies in Michigan, including former GOP attorney general candidate Matthew DePerno, face potential criminal charges related to attempts to gain access to voting machines after of the 2020 election.

According to documents released last year by Nessels’ office, five vote tabulators were taken from Roscommon and Missaukee counties in northern Michigan, and Barry County in western Michigan. The tabulators were subsequently broken and equipment tests performed.

A grand jury was convened in March at the request of a special prosecutor to consider the indictments, according to court records. The special prosecutor, DJ Hilson, wrote in May in a court document that a charging decision was ready to be made.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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