Giuliani, Former GOP Chair, Charged For Alleged Attempt To Subvert Election
Eighteen people, including former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and his lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, have been charged for an alleged attempt to change the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Arizona Prosecutors Charge 18 People, Including Ex-GOP Chair, For Alleged Roles In Subverting Election https://t.co/KqmHCPoYJg pic.twitter.com/uZ5WlO46B2
— Daily Wire News (@DailyWireNews) April 24, 2024
Arizona prosecutors unsealed the charges this week, naming former Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward, Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-AZ), Sen. Anthony Kern (R-AZ), Chief Operating Officer of Turning Point Action Tyler Bowyer, Michael Ward, Lorraine Pellegrino, Nancy Cottle, Samuel Moorhead, James Lamon, Gregory Safsten and Robert Montgomery as part of the alleged co-conspirators.
The remaining seven indicted co-conspirators were not named as their names are redacted until they are served.
However, the Washington Post said that the seven include former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, Trump former campaign aide Mike Roman, as well as his lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis and Christina Bobb.
The 18 defendants were charged with Conspiracy, Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices, Fraudulent Schemes and Practices, and Forgery. Trump was not charged alongside the 18 but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator in the indictment released on Wednesday.
In a video statement that accompanied the charges, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes maintained that the people of Arizona elected President Joe Biden in a “free and fair” election.
“Unwilling to accept this fact, the defendants charged by the state grand jury, allegedly schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency. After the general election on November 3, 2020, the defendants and other unindicted co-conspirators raised false claims of widespread voter fraud in Arizona to pressure elections officials to change the outcome of a transparent free and fair democratic election,” she said, adding, Those efforts ultimately failed when officials stood firm, followed their statutory duties, and officially certified Arizona’s election on November 30, 2020.”
“The defendant Republican presidential electors allegedly plotting with additional defendants, then voted for Mr. Trump and Vice President Pence on December 14, 2020, falsely claiming to be the duly elected and qualified electors for President and Vice President of the United States from the state of Arizona. These defendants deceived the citizens of Arizona by falsely claiming that those votes were contingent only on a legal challenge that would change the outcome of the election. In reality, the defendants intended that the false votes for Trump and Pence would encourage Vice President Pence to reject the certified Biden-Harris electors’ votes regardless of the result of any legal challenge,” Mayes claimed further.
She went on to claim that “when combined with the six other states where Republican electors sent in uncertified votes for Trump-Pence, the defendants wanted Pence to declare Mr. Trump the outright winner of the election or to send the vote back to friendly legislators that would have certified Trump-Pence as the winner of the election.”
“That scheme failed when Vice President Pence upheld the rule of law and accepted all certified Biden-Harris votes on January 6, 2021. A state grand jury made up of everyday regular Arizonans has now handed down felony indictments for all 11 Republican electors as well as several others connected to this scheme. These charges include fraud, forgery, and conspiracy. These charges are class two, four and five felonies. These are serious indictments,” she concluded.