Judge Dismisses Charges Against Trump’s Fake Electors In Michigan
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The 15 “fake electors” who signed a document claiming President Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Michigan in the 2020 presidential election will not face trial after a state judge ruled on Tuesday that prosecutors failed to show they had criminal intent.
“This is a fraud case, and [you] have to prove intent,” District Court Judge Kristen Simmons said in court, according to the Michigan Advance. “And I don’t believe that there’s evidence sufficient to prove intent.”
Tuesday’s ruling comes after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) had charged the defendants with eight felony counts of forgery and other crimes. Republican National Committee member Kathy Berden and ex-Michigan GOP Chair Meshawn Maddock were among the 15 people charged.
Nessel, the Advance reported, was not thrilled when she spoke to reporters outside the Lansing courthouse on Tuesday.
“The evidence was clear. They lied. They knew they lied, and they tried to steal the votes of millions of Michiganders,” Nessel said. “And if they can get away with this, well, what can’t they get away with next?”
Nessel and her prosecution team filed the charges in mid-2023, claiming the 15 Republicans knowingly committed forgery when they submitted a signed document claiming Trump beat Biden in their state in December 2020; Biden beat Trump in Michigan in 2020 by approximately 150,000 votes.
Those charged in the case had met at the Michigan Republican Party headquarters in Lansing to sign the document, prosecutors argued, before it was submitted to the National Archives and U.S. Senate in early 2021, Bridge Michigan reported.
Judge Simmons on Tuesday ruled the prosecutors had failed to show the 15 people had knowingly committed a crime. The judge said they created an “alternate document,” not an “official document,” that did not include the governor’s signature or a bogus seal on it — indicating they were not aiming to dupe other election officials. Rather, they genuinely believed they were carrying out their constitutional duties, while under the impression that the 2020 election was hampered by fraud.
“Right, wrong, or indifferent, it was these individuals and many other individuals in the state of Michigan who sincerely believe, for some reason, that they were some serious irregularities with the election, or with the voting, and that somehow their candidate didn’t receive all the votes that was intended to for them,” Judge Simmons said.
