Arizona Begins Indicting Trump Allies

An Arizona grand jury indicted several important allies of former President Donald Trump — including former Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arizona Republican Chair Kelli Ward, and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — for their roles in disputing the results of the 2020 presidential election.

This follows new polls showing Trump leading Biden in the presidential race.

Be informed, not misled.

Arizona launches a political attack on Trump.

Along with Ward, Meadows, and Giuliani, former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis and former Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, along with several members of the Arizona Republican Party, were among those indicted, according to the Washington Post. 

Meadows, Giuliani, Ellis, and Epshteyn were indicted for allegedly attempting to help Trump receive Arizona’s electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election, which was more than three years ago.

People such as Ward and Arizona state senators Jake Hoffman (R) and Anthony Kern (R) were also charged long after they signed paperwork certifying that Trump won the election on December 14, 2020.

The Post says, "An Arizona grand jury on Wednesday indicted seven attorneys or aides affiliated with Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign as well as 11 Arizona Republicans on felony charges related to their alleged efforts to subvert Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state, according to an announcement by the state attorney general."

The Post continues:

Those indicted include former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman and Christina Bobb, top campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn and former campaign aide Mike Roman. They are accused of allegedly aiding an unsuccessful strategy to award the state’s electoral votes to Trump instead of Biden after the 2020 election. Also charged are the Republicans who signed paperwork on Dec. 14, 2020, that falsely purported Trump was the rightful winner, including former state party chair Kelli Ward, two state senators and Tyler Bowyer, a GOP national committeeman and chief operating officer of Turning Point Action, the campaign arm of the pro-Trump conservative group Turning Point USA.

Trump was not charged, but he is described in the indictment as an unindicted co-conspirator.

The Post explains that the indictments cap a year-long investigation by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) into how the elector strategy played out in Arizona, which Biden won by 10,457 votes.

Arizona is the fourth state after Michigan, Georgia, and Nevada to seek charges against those who formed an alternate slate of presidential electors. As those cases slowly make their way through the legal system, Trump is again running for president, and officials in Arizona and other battleground states are preparing for another likely contentious election.

The indictment reads:

“In Arizona, and the United States, the people elected Joseph Biden as President on November 3, 2020. Unwilling to accept this fact, Defendants and unindicted coconspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency” to keep Trump in office “against the will of Arizona’s voters.”

Oh, the irony.

Bloomberg says, "The indictment of several Trump allies and members of Arizona’s Republican Party comes as a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll conducted between April 8 and 15, found that President Joe Biden is trailing Trump in several key swing states such as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina by six or more points."

Bloomberg says, "In Arizona, Trump led by seven points, receiving 49 percent of support from voters who indicated they would vote for him, while Biden received 42 percent".

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the indictment in a video posted to X:

A state grand jury, made up of everyday, regular Arizonans, has handed down felony indictments in the ongoing investigation into the fake elector scheme in Arizona. pic.twitter.com/Nu8GcD4ZqJ

— AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes (@AZAGMayes) April 24, 2024

I will not allow American democracy to be undermined. It’s too important. Investigators and attorneys assigned to this case took the necessary time to thoroughly piece together the details of the events that began nearly four years ago. They followed the facts where they led and I’m very proud of the work they’ve done to date. We are here because justice demands an answer to the efforts that the defendants and other unindicted co-conspirators allegedly took to undermine the will of Arizona’s voters during the 2020 presidential election. Arizona’s election was free and fair. The people of Arizona elected President Biden.

The AZ Mirror published this on Wednesday:

A grand jury has indicted 18 people, including two Arizona state senators and the former head of the Arizona Republican Party, in a fake elector scheme that aimed to install Donald Trump as the president after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. 

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has not released the names of everyone who was indicted, but all 11 fake electors were charged: 

• Kelli Ward, former AZGOP chairman
• Arizona Sen. Jake Hoffman, leader of the Arizona Freedom Caucus
• Arizona Sen. Anthony Kern, member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus
• Tyler Bowyer, Turning Point USA CEO
• Michael Ward, husband of Kelli Ward  
• Nancy Cottle, a Republican who’s been active in local politics for a decade
• James Lamon, a failed 2022 U.S. Senate candidate
• Robert Montgomery, former chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee
• Samuel Moorhead, former chairman of Gila County Republican Party 
• Lorraine Pellegrino, former president of the Ahwatukee Republican Women
• Gregory Safsten, former executive director of the AZGOP

There were also seven people indicted whose names were redacted.

Takeaway

The AZ Mirror concluded with this:

There were multiple fake elector schemes in Arizona, one tied to the AZGOP which included the above-named electors, as well as another one by the Sovereign Citizens of the Great State of Arizona that was not tied to the Trump campaign. 

Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada have already brought charges against fake electors there, and Wisconsin is still investigating possible charges for its fake electors. 

Arizona Senate Minority Leader Mitzi Epstein lauded Mayes for sending the message that attempting to subvert the will of the people and stop the peaceful transfer of power comes with legal consequences. 

“I appreciate Attorney General Mayes’ leadership in ensuring that Arizona’s fake electors are held accountable,” Epstein said in a statement. “ The individuals who played into and spread the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump are dangerous to our nation’s democracy.”

This would be their equivalent to Hillary's "Basket of Deplorables."

The battle for the soul of America rages on.

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.