Trump campaign officials with Rudy Giuliani as the lead oversaw the fake electors plot in seven states. Sources with direct knowledge of this said Giuliani coordinated efforts to put forward illegitimate pro-Trump electors in December 2020.
CNN and The Washington Post reported that the reports further reveal the extent Trump’s campaign went to overturn Biden’s victory. Weeks after the 2020 election, Trump’s allies sent fake certifications, which eventually was sent to the National Archives, claiming that Trump had won in seven states that he originally lost. Though the documents did nothing to change the electoral results, it just reveals what all Trump’s campaign did to overthrow the electoral results.
In March 2021, American Oversight, a DC-based watchdog group, obtained those seven false certificates for the seven states- Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. American Oversight said in a report, “None of the certificates contains any indication that they list illegitimate slates of electors not chosen by those states’ voters”.
Sources said Trump’s campaign grouped supporters to fill up the elector slots and arranged meeting rooms in statehouses for the fake electors to meet on December 14, 2020. There were also several phone calls between the Trump officials and GOP state officials, with Giuliani involved in at least one call. A former Trump campaign staffer said to CNN, “It was Rudy and these misfit characters who started calling the shots. The campaign was throwing enough shit at the wall to see what would stick.”
The Washington Post reported that Giuliani was occasionally supported by a correspondent, Christina Bobb with the network One America News. According to emails obtained by American Oversight, she reached out to a top Arizona legislator about supposed voter fraud and was sending out emails on Giuliani’s behalf. One of the 16 fake Michigan electors stated at an event last week hosted by a local Republican organization that it was Trump’s campaign that coordinated the whole plan. Meshawn Maddock, co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party said, “We fought to seat the electors. The Trump campaign asked us to do that.” She and her husband State Rep. Meshawn Maddock still supports their action and is still claiming that the election was stolen. Matt Maddock was also one of the GOP lawmakers from the five states who sent out a letter to Pence to delay the certification of the electoral votes, which ultimately failed to happen because of Penceโs refusal.
Giuliani was subpoenaed on Tuesday, the letter specifically mentioning his efforts to use Congress, courts, and state legislatures to overturn the election results. Other than Giuliani, the House panel also subpoenaed three other players involved- Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, and Boris Epshteyn. Ellis drafted a memo that stated how Trump could exploit a rather dubious law to invalidate the election results. Powell, a lawyer who partnered with Giuliani in many lawsuits ran an organization that raised millions based on the claim that the election machines were rigged. Epshteyn, along with Giuliani was a part of the Trump advisers at a โcommand centerโ in Willard Hotel in the lead up to the Jan 6 attack. Committee Chairman, Bennie Thompson said in a statement, “The four individuals weโve subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results or were in direct contact with the former president about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes.”
Same DeMarco, one of the pro-Trump electors from Pennsylvania told CNN that there was a last-minute dispute where the electors demanded the Trump officials to add legalities to the fake certificates to mention that they were only electors in waiting. The fake certificates from Pennsylvania and New Mexico had them mentioned, however, the other five certificates bluntly claimed that these GOP electors were the rightful electors.
These fake certifications and the constant push of blatant lies have got voters’ right organizations concerned. Nancy Wang, an executive director of the Michigan-based Voters Not Politicians said that Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat has forced her group to tackle anti-democratic efforts. “This is existential. This about the very fundamental institutions of our government – whether we can vote at all, whether we have any power whatsoever. It is a completely different time that we are facing in 2020 and 2022. It really feels urgent. It is a battle of a completely different kind. It is massive, it is coordinated at a national level. It is much more threatening.”