In a press briefing held on Tuesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel revealed the initiation of legal proceedings against 16 individuals accused of illegitimately asserting that President Donald Trump had triumphed in the 2020 elections as a ploy to delegitimize the outcome.
The American presidential voting process involves electors from every state casting votes on behalf of the candidate who garners the majority of popular votes in their respective states. Back in December 2020, when President Trump was rigorously contesting the election results, his confederates in multiple states were preparing substitute lists of electors.
This legal action signifies an unprecedented event, as these may be the inaugural charges laid against individuals claiming to be fake electors.
Simultaneously, this announcement coincided with President Trump’s admission of being a potential target in an investigation conducted by a grand jury based in Washington. This probe seeks to uncover details concerning the January 6th disturbance and attempts to invalidate the 2020 election results.
In her recorded statement, Attorney General Nessel revealed that the accused 16 assembled in the basement of Michigan’s Republican Party headquarters. They signed several certificates, misrepresenting themselves as the โlegally elected and certified electors for the president and vice president of the United States of America representing the state of Michigan.โ
Nessel emphasised their actions as fraudulent. โThese individuals were not the lawfully elected and certified electors, a fact they were all fully aware of,โ she furthered.
Certain individuals from the group made efforts to deliver these spurious documents to the state Senate. However, their attempts were foiled, stated Nessel. Despite the setback, these documents found their way to the U.S. Senate and the National Archives. Their intention was for Vice President Pence to upend the election results using the deceitfully composed electoral slate, revealed Nessel.
These “illegitimate electors” face accusations on eight felony counts each, one of them being forgery, Nessel disclosed.
The list of 16 includes prominent names such as Meshawn Maddock, Michigan GOP Co-Chair, and Kathy Berden, State Republican National Committeewoman. Michele Lundgren, who is also on the list of accused, previously spoke to local news outlet WDIV. She confessed her lack of knowledge about the concept of an elector, let alone a fake one, and thought she was signing an attendance sheet.
Attorney General Nessel had previously redirected the case involving Michiganโs 16 electors to the Department of Justice. However, as reported earlier this year by Bridge Michigan, she resumed her investigation as the federal authorities had yet to levy charges.
Meanwhile, in Nevada, the Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford opted not to press charges against the illegitimate electors. On the other hand, a prosecutor from Georgia, engaged in scrutinising Trump and his allies, warned fake electors of potential criminal charges.