Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and several others who advised Donald J. Trump during the 2020 election have been indicted in Arizona. The indictment includes conspiracy, fraud, and forgery charges related to alleged attempts to change the election results. Arizona is the fourth swing state to bring an elections case involving the Trump campaign in 2020. The former president was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the case. Arizona’s Democratic attorney general, Kris Mayes, emphasized the importance of upholding American democracy in pursuing the investigation despite criticism.
Those indicted in the Arizona case include Boris Epshteyn, one of Trump’s top legal strategists, who faces complications in Trump’s defense in a criminal trial in Manhattan regarding hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. Other defendants who are part of the indictment are Mike Roman, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, and Christina Bobb. In total, 35 people face criminal charges for falsely declaring Trump as the winner of their state’s electoral votes. Giuliani, Meadows, Roman, and Eastman now face charges in two states, Georgia and Arizona, with Ms. Ellis having already pleaded guilty to a felony in Georgia.
Despite facing charges, some of the fake electors involved in the scheme have maintained that they were acting legally. Charles Burnham, a lawyer for Mr. Eastman, maintained his client’s innocence and vowed to fight the charges. Ted Goodman, a spokesman for Mr. Giuliani, expressed concern over the weaponization of the justice system. Mr. Hoffman, another defendant, declared his innocence of any crime and vowed to vigorously defend himself. Mr. Epshteyn, who has been arrested twice in Arizona in the past, did not immediately respond to the charges he faces.
The effort to keep Trump in office after his loss in the 2020 election included having slates of people claim to be electors for him. The plan was to block or delay congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the hopes that Trump’s allies in the House and Senate would challenge the validity of the election results in swing states and accept the pro-Trump electors as valid. Trump is not only facing state charges in Georgia and Arizona but also federal charges of election interference brought by the Department of Justice.
Some of Trump’s allies and advisers have backtracked from his claims of election fraud in light of the criminal charges they face. Kenneth Chesebro, an architect of the fake elector plan, admitted to investigators in Michigan that Biden was elected and the process was followed. James Renner, a former Michigan state trooper involved as a fake elector, expressed regret and admitted to being involved in a situation he shouldn’t have. Charges against him were dropped as part of a cooperation agreement with the Michigan attorney general’s office. Despite facing legal challenges, Trump and his allies continue to insist that the election was stolen from him, with some maintaining a grip on the Republican Party in Arizona.
