Five key swing states have investigations and criminal charges related to former President Donald Trump’s fake elector scheme and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
While he is not named in some, the charges are entirely out of Trump’s control, which may hurt him come November if any of these cases result in conviction. In a race between President Joe Biden and Trump that is expected to be close once again, 12% of Trump supporters said they would reconsider voting for the former president if he is convicted in any of his four criminal cases.
In December 2020, groups of fake electors met in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and signed false documents that indicated Trump won the election in their states. Cases in many swing states hinge on these instances.
In the southwestern state, 18 people involved with election interference, including former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and 11 fake pro-Trump electors were indicted last week by a grand jury. The former president was not indicted but was named as an unindicted co-conspirator.
The indictment targets 11 Republicans who submitted a false document to Congress that indicated Trump had won the 2020 election in Arizona. Then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, confirmed the election results in favor of Biden, which angered Trump at the time.
“I will not allow American democracy to be undermined,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said. “It’s too important.”
A former state party chairwoman, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate, and two sitting state lawmakers are all charged with nine counts each of conspiracy, fraud, and forgery related to the election.
Arizona Republicans documented the alleged crimes on their social media accounts. Their Facebook page still shows pictures of the fake electors stating they cast their ballots in favor of Trump. Arizona prosecutors “zeroed in” on their social media posts to make the criminal claims, according to the Arizona Republic.
In Fulton County, Georgia, Trump is a defendant among 18 others, including notable figures Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Michael Roman, Meadows, and Giuliani.
The prosecution alleges that Trump and 18 others engaged in a “criminal racketeering enterprise” and “knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.
The case has been the center of controversy surrounding District Attorney Fani Willis due to a conflict of interest between herself and special prosecutor Nathan Wade after the two were involved in a romantic relationship. As a result, Wade resigned from the case.
The trial is set to begin in August.
Sixteen fake electors are being accused of submitting false certificates that claimed they were the true electors despite Biden’s victory in the state. They are being charged with forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator.
“The false electors’ actions undermined the public’s faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said.
After being blocked by law enforcement from entering the state’s capitol, the fake electors convened in the state GOP’s basement to submit the falsified documents.
Late last year, a Nevada grand jury indicted six Republicans who submitted a false document to Congress declaring Trump the winner of the state’s presidential election. They are charged with offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument.
“We cannot allow attacks on democracy to go unchallenged,” Attorney General Aaron Ford said. “Today’s indictments are the product of a long and thorough investigation, and as we pursue this prosecution, I am confident that our judicial system will see justice done.”
Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald is named in the indictment. A trial is not set to begin until 2025.
Attorney General Josh Kaul has not said whether or not his office is investigating 10 pro-Trump fake electors for criminal charges.
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The fake electors settled a civil lawsuit in 2023 in which they admitted their actions were intended to overturn the results of Biden’s victory.
Michael Gableman, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, was hired by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to investigate election fraud in the state during the 2020 election. His 14-month investigation led to multiple false accusations against Wisconsin Elections Commission officials and cost the Badger State $2 million.