Michigan's attorney general charges 16 people in false elector scheme : NPR
By: NPR
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
July 19, 20236:23 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition
By
Leila Fadel
,
Colin Jackson
Michigan's attorney general is charging 16 people with election law and forgery felonies, alleging that they falsely stated they were electors for Donald Trump after the 2020 presidential election.
A MARTINEZ, HOST:
Yesterday, the Democratic state attorney general announced charges against 16 fake electors. These were people who submitted paperwork to the federal government falsely saying that they were Michigan's true electors and that Donald Trump won the state, even though he clearly lost Michigan in 2020.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
To talk about all this, we have Colin Jackson of the Michigan Public Radio Network. Good morning, Colin.
COLIN JACKSON, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So what do we know about these charges?
JACKSON: Well, there are 16 defendants total. They each face eight felony charges that mostly have to do with forgery. And as you mentioned, they stem from this moment in December of 2020 when Attorney General Dana Nessel said the 16 defendants gathered in the basement of what was then the Republican Party headquarters. They allegedly signed a memo falsely stating that they were Michigan's official Electoral College members, when they were not, and tried to award Michigan's Electoral College votes to former President Donald Trump, even though he lost the state handily.
A group tried to drop that memo off at the state capitol, where the state's real electors were gathering, but they were turned away. But despite that, Nessel says they did still transmit that memo to the National Archives and former Vice President Mike Pence hoping he'd overturn the election results. Here's Nessel, a Democrat, discussing it yesterday.
DANA NESSEL: Undoubtedly, there will be those who claim these charges are political in nature. But where there is overwhelming evidence of guilt in respect to multiple crimes, the most political act I could engage in as a prosecutor would be to take no action at all.
FADEL: What do we know about the people charged?
JACKSON: They range in age from 55 to 82. The name that jumped out immediately to me was Meshawn Maddock. She's a prominent Trump ally and until recently was the Michigan Republican Party co-chair. Her husband is a current Republican state representative who's part of our House Freedom Caucus. I want to note he was not charged or mentioned anywhere in the AG's announcement. But there are also a few elected officials on the list. Those include a West Michigan city mayor named Kent Vanderwood, a Metro Detroit suburb clerk named Stan Grot and Michigan local clerks that actually help administer elections. This just happened yesterday. So, so far, I haven't seen much reaction yet, though.
FADEL: To the charges, so that may be coming. Now, Michigan isn't the only place where there were fake electors. This happened in several other swing states where there are also investigations. But if you, Colin, could, just put Michigan in a national context when it comes to efforts to overturn a legitimate election in the U.S. in 2020.
JACKSON: Michigan was one of the centerpieces of the so-called Stop the Steal movement after it became apparent Trump lost to President Biden by more than 150,000 votes. We saw Trump's attorneys and allies kind of flood the courts with lawsuits, trying to overturn the results. You may remember the nickname given to them, the Kraken. Each of those challenges were thrown out, though. Election denialism, though, has taken a hold on the Republican Party institution here. We've seen party leadership largely be at the forefront of wrongly claiming Trump won. We've also seen infighting continue as it relates to that.
FADEL: So what should we expect next now for the 16 people charged in the fake elector plot?
JACKSON: For those charged now, there hasn't been a date set yet for their arraignment. But Attorney General Nessel does say more people could be charged.
FADEL: So these are the first charges we've seen of this kind. We'll see if other states follow suit. That's Colin Jackson of the Michigan Public Radio Network. Colin, thank you.
JACKSON: Thank you.
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personal fortunes squandered on defense attorneys. years spent as inmates in prison. firearms surrendered. loss of reputation and hopefully their voting rights. I'm thrilled to see so many of trump's sycophants facing prosecution and imprisonment. it couldn't happen to a nicer group of unamerican scum.
I read that a few of these morons are already trying to cut deals by rolling over on the others... LOL...
The irony of course being that they, or at least some of them, presumably thought they were preserving democracy.
ignorance of the law is no excuse...
I hope they all get fucked up in court, and then I hope they all get fucked up in prison.
... and then they can get buried in orange jumpsuits before their prison terms end.
Sorry if it is mentioned elsewhere and I missed it - but how many states now including Michigan are going after these traitors?
Everyone involved in 1/6 needs to be held accountable.
wow....fraud, eh? Did these nimrods really think they could get away with it? I hope other states take note
I really think they did believe they could get away with it. I mean, Trump has managed to operate with near-impunity for decades now. They likely figured they could do the same, and that if the law tried to intervene, that they'd just try to incite a civil war that they believed they'd win.
I believe (and I admit I could be wrong) that we'll see these people were led to understand they had more support than it turned what they really had.
My humble opinion but...that's delusional on their part
Yeah. They should have known, but we've been introduced to the politically stupid for a while now.
Agreed. But a popular crime, or one that is believed to be popular, is still a crime.
that's still in their planning stages, like my youtube channel that shows each of them flopping around on the pavement during the last 20 seconds of their lives... /s
I'm sure of them were even convinced that what they were doing was completely legal as well.
Well sure on the surface. There are states that have said they won't investigate or pursue charges.
I think one of the women being charged said she thought she was signing was an attendance sheet? How stupid is that?
maga stupid...
Remember, we're talking MAGA country here. You've forgotten to lower the bar on stupidity levels.
that thing that looks like an expansion joint on the floor...
Hard times a comin’
senior wing at the state prison...
the ramen and velveeta supper club...
... easy marks at the state pen.
prison atm's
This will be an interesting story to follow. It's pretty historic.
... and they can't be pardoned by an insurrectionist supporter POTUS.
The usual suspects are unimpressed ...
I'm stealing that...
TiG should also keep it handy for dealing with trumpster rabble...
They know what they are doing ... it is all a pointless game. Many of the R partisans cannot criticize Trump (some even refuse to acknowledge any wrongdoing) because they see that as failing their party. (Not being good partisan soldiers.) So, instead, they attempt (and repeatedly fail) to defend the indefensible and, of course, exaggerate every Biden failure and flaw (and even create flaws that are not there) all to defend the GOP.
And the result of this outrageous game of bullshit is ...
I have no respect for anyone that would support trump now, nor do I care what happens to them.
Understandably.
I also have only contempt for any service members that swore an oath to defend the constitution and are still supporting trump after J6.
Same here dev, same here. I don't get the mentality of ANYONE who could support this massive failure of a human being.
Most of these people don't really give a flying f*** about Trump. They use him to express crap that they don't believe but which triggers libs. That's their glory. They bask in the spotlight.
The more outlandish their bullshit, the more attention it gets. GLORIOUS!
It's just narcissism.
And successfully every time.
Why do you indulge them so?
If guilty, then give the maximum sentence to send a message.
do they give state funerals to federal prisoners that die while incarcerated?
they're going to have to put that horse drawn wagon on a flatbed and encase it in plexiglass...
I think they go to Potter's Field
I'm thinking about a future federal prisoner that used to occupy the white house...
He might get a funeral from his family but I don't think he would be entitled to a state funeral if he does in prison
the cleanup of pennsylvania avenue after the procession would be way too expensive. all those rotting tomatoes, eggs, vegetables, and old maga corpses... yuck... /s
maga stew...
potter's field was the name of the thumper church I was having issues with years ago.
they joined with another church, started meeting at a school, had an internal falling out, and then disappeared. fitting...
God, does it stink!
I really want to see ginni thomas get sucked into the fake elector meat grinder...
... so she can throw the Mr under the bus.
... and watch his circle of wealthy friends vanish when he retires in disgrace.
That would be just desserts.
he'll be free to join the black panther party now, like he wanted to in college...
oh wait, they won't want him now...
Do you think that crazy bitch would throw hubby under the bus?
When token thomas sexually harassed Anita Hill he referred to himself as well-endowed as a porn star at the time - who was called long dong silver
Anita Hill was no more credible than the skanks the Democrats dragged out during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings were.
The one who wears the pants in the token thomas family. She loves her long dong silver.
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My only surprise was that half of this group were women. I had thought that women were smarter.
... republican women. you need to make a pretty big mental deduction for that...
voluntary second class citizens...
You'd have to be braindead to be a republican woman or 'man'.
Not republicans/gop/gqp 'men' or women.
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Trump is going to be going through some things. 74 felony charges.. Yikes.