Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is the Barney Fife of elected lawyers, but she lacks Fife’s decency and charm. She was laughed out of court last week — literally — by a Gov. Gretchen Whitmer-appointed judge when the charges against 15 2020 Donald Trump electors were dismissed.
Nessel charged the group with forgery, fraud, and six other felonies each. The electors, several in their 70s and 80s, faced years in prison. Most of the longtime Republican activists would have likely died there, probably the way Nessel intended it.
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Nessel alleged the group attempted to trick Congress into thinking that Trump won the state by sending an “official” document with their electoral votes. Democrats submitted an official document with the Joe Biden electors. The Trump electors argued their action was necessary should a court overturn the certified results of the election.
“This is a fraud case, and we have to prove intent, and I don’t believe that there’s sufficient evidence to prove intent,” Judge Kristen Simmons, appointed by Whitmer in 2019, said during a 30-minute monologue.
She noted the electors posed for a photo as they signed the document.
“Typically, people who are seeking to defraud or deceive do not gather and make a spectacle of that,” Simmons said. “That would be weird.”
She also said, “I don’t know anybody doing a press conference after they’re committing a fraud.” The courtroom erupted in laughter at the absurdity of Nessel’s accusations.
“I believe that they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress, and that’s based on the statements of all of the people’s witnesses,” Simmons said. “For those reasons, these cases will not be bound over to the circuit court. Each case will be dismissed.”
Despite being thoroughly humiliated by a political ally, Nessel is considering appealing the ruling.
Elector John Haggard, 84, died hours after the ruling. In January, he said on Facebook that Nessel’s persecution had cost him over $100,000 in legal fees to that point. “He never wavered on his support for President Trump, and his last words to us were to sue Dana Nessel for what she did to us,” fellow 2020 elector Meshawn Maddock said.
“This was not a political prosecution, but really a political persecution, and she used it for political gain, in order to gain political advantage,” Kevin Kijewski, the attorney for Haggard and Clifford Frost, said at a Michigan legislative hearing this week. “This was not a pursuit of justice. It was a calculated political strike.”
About Haggard, Kijewski told the House Weaponization of State Government Subcommittee, “I think it’s safe to say speaking with him and seeing him go through this, this did take a toll, ladies and gentlemen. Lawfare is real, financially, on your family, on your time. I’m not saying that it directly killed him, but certainly it took its toll and contributed toward that.”
Nessel robbed these patriots of their livelihoods, retirements, and tried to destroy their reputations. She caused endless stress and sleepless nights, but they prevailed. Nessel should be required to pay their legal fees. Then she should resign in disgrace — or be impeached.
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Nicholas Somberg, attorney for Maddock, said of the combined charges filed and dismissed against the electors, “When you lose 120 to nothing, I think it would look so bad in public opinion that it’s not a good idea for her to appeal.”
We’ll just have to see if Dana Nessel will find a little bit of Barney Fife’s decency or continue her petty, partisan tirade.
Tudor Dixon is a former Republican gubernatorial nominee, executive in Michigan’s steel industry, breast cancer survivor, and working mom of four girls. She is currently the host of The Tudor Dixon Podcast.