Arizona Grand Jury Indicts Trump Allies for Alleged 2020 Election Subversion
An Arizona grand jury has indicted 18 individuals, including prominent Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. The indictment alleges that the defendants devised a scheme to pressure Arizona election officials to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow victory in the state by raising false claims of election fraud and filing lawsuits.
According to the indictment, Giuliani, the former New York City mayor turned Trump attorney, is accused of spreading false claims of election fraud in Arizona and pressuring state officials to change the outcome of the election. Giuliani is also alleged to have encouraged the pro-Trump electors to vote for the former president’s ticket.
Former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) implicated Giuliani in his 2022 testimony before the House Jan. 6 committee. Bowers said that Giuliani repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to back up his 2020 election fraud claims.
Meadows, Trump’s White House chief of staff, is also accused of working with members of Trump’s campaign to coordinate and implement the alternate electors’ votes in the battleground states. The indictment alleges that Meadows was involved in many efforts to keep Trump in power despite his defeat at the polls.
The other Trump allies allegedly helped implement the scheme, including by pressuring Pence to accept the pro-Trump slate of electors.
The indictment also includes charges against 11 pro-Trump electors, who are accused of signing documents purporting to be the state’s valid electors in 2020. These electors face charges of conspiracy, fraud, and forgery.
The indictment asserts that Giuliani – often identified as “the Mayor” – spread false claims of election fraud in Arizona. He pressured Arizona officials to change the outcome of the state’s election, and was responsible for encouraging the pro-Trump electors to vote for the former president’s ticket, according to the indictment.
Former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) implicated Giuliani in his 2022 testimony before the House Jan. 6 committee. Bowers said that, despite repeatedly pushing the New York mayor-turned-Trump-surrogate for proof to back up his 2020 election fraud claims, Giuliani failed to produce any.
“My recollection, [Giuliani] said, ‘We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence,'”. Bowers testified.
Meadows, also unnamed in the indictment, allegedly worked with members of Trump’s campaign to “coordinate and implement” the alternate electors’ votes in the battleground states, and was involved in “many efforts to keep Unindicted Coconspirator 1 (Trump) in power despite his defeat at the polls,” the charging document reads.
The other Trump allies allegedly helped implement the scheme, including by pressuring Pence to accept the pro-Trump slate of electors, according to the indictment.
The so-called ‘fake electors’ indicted are former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward; her husband, Michael Ward; Tyler Bowyer, the chief operating officer of Turning Point Action; Nancy Cottle, who has held positions on the Maricopa County Republican Committee; Arizona State Sen. Jacob Hoffman; Arizona State Sen. Anthony Kern; former U.S. Senate candidate James Lamon; former Cochise County Republican Party Chair Robert Montgomery; Samuel Moorhead, a former Gila County Republican Party precinct committeeman; former Ahwatukee Republican Women president Lorraine Pellegrino; and Gregory Safsted, the state Republican party’s former executive director.
Pro-Trump electors in Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia have also faced charges for attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.
