Criminal prosecution concerning Trump fake electors
Michigan v. Berden
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Ingham_County_Circuit_Court_seal.svg/180px-Ingham_County_Circuit_Court_seal.svg.png) |
Court
| Ingham County
Circuit Court
|
---|
Full case name
| People of the State of Michigan v. Kathy Berden,
et al
|
---|
Docket nos.
| 2022-0343234-A (district court proceedings)
|
---|
Charge
|
- Forgery
- Conspiracy to commit forgery
- Election law forgery
- Conspiracy to commit election law forgery
- Uttering and publishing
- Conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing
|
---|
People of the State of Michigan v. Berden et al.
is a state criminal prosecution concerning the
Trump fake electors plot
in
Michigan
. The sixteen defendants are accused of producing and attempting to use a false
certificate of ascertainment
containing
electoral votes
for
Donald Trump
, who had lost the
2020 U.S. presidential election in Michigan
. The defendants were
indicted
in July 2023 on criminal charges of
forgery
,
uttering
, and
conspiracy
, all
felonies
.
Background
[
edit
]
Planning
[
edit
]
Joe Biden
won Michigan's
electoral votes
in the
2020 U.S. presidential election
by about 154,000 votes, or about three percentage points.
[1]
Attempts to cause Michigan's electoral vote to be counted for
Donald Trump
instead were spearheaded by
Rudolph Giuliani
and
John Eastman
in support of the Trump campaign. The plan targeted seven states:
Arizona
,
Georgia
,
Michigan
,
Nevada
,
New Mexico
,
Pennsylvania
, and
Wisconsin
.
[2]
[3]
[4]
Initially, Giuliani in a series of hearings in December 2020 publicly urged Michigan lawmakers to award the state's electoral votes to Trump, but was unsuccessful.
[4]
The Trump electoral
slates
were then convened anyway, using the justification that they would be alternate slates to be used in case
Texas v. Pennsylvania
was ruled in favor of Trump. However, that case was thrown out on December 11, 2020, three days before the electoral vote was to occur, a fact that was withheld from most of the defendants by Giuliani and
Kenneth Chesebro
.
[5]
Creation of false electoral documents
[
edit
]
Michigan Republican Party chair
Laura Cox
said that according to an unnamed Trump campaign lawyer, the initial plan was to have electors hide overnight in the
Michigan State Capitol
, but she opposed that plan.
[2]
[6]
The defendants instead met in the basement of the state Republican Party headquarters on December 14, 2020.
[7]
Two members of the nominated Republican electoral slate ? one of whom was former
Michigan Secretary of State
Terri Lynn Land
? did not attend, and were replaced. A Trump campaign aide was present as well, according to one of the defendants.
[1]
The participants' level of involvement in the scheme varied. False elector
Meshawn Maddock
and her husband, state representative
Matt Maddock
, had long-standing ties to Trump and were in direct contact with Trump campaign officials.
[4]
[8]
On the other hand, false elector Michele Lundgren told reporters that she had received a call to participate only the previous day and thought the document was a sign-in sheet.
[1]
They produced and signed multiple documents falsely stating they were the duly elected and qualified electors in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and that they had placed electoral votes for Donald Trump.
[7]
Unlike in some other states, the Michigan false
certificate of ascertainment
did not contain language specifying it was to be used only if the Trump campaign prevailed in litigation, and at the time, all court challenges in Michigan had already been resolved.
[2]
The documents were then sent to the
U.S. Senate
and
National Archives
,
[7]
as well as the
Office of the Federal Register
, Michigan Secretary of State
Jocelyn Benson
, and the federal
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
.
[9]
Four defendants later that day attempted to enter the Michigan State Capitol with State Representative
Daire Rendon
, appearing to present the falsified certificate to gain entry into the building and claiming to be true electors, but they were turned away by the
Michigan State Police
[1]
due to
COVID-19 pandemic
restrictions preventing anyone without official business from entering.
[10]
Subsequent events
[
edit
]
In March 2021, the
watchdog
group American Oversight posted copies of the false documents from several states, including Michigan, obtained from the
National Archives
via a
freedom of information
request.
[9]
[11]
However, the documents were largely overlooked until the story was reported by
Politico
in January 2022.
[4]
[12]
Michigan Attorney General
Dana Nessel
began an investigation in 2021. In January 2022, she publicly confirmed the state investigation but closed it in favor of asking the federal
Department of Justice
to open a criminal investigation, citing jurisdictional issues.
[9]
However, Nessel announced in January 2023 that she was reopening the state investigation due to perceived inaction from the federal investigation on the matter.
[13]
Two of the defendants, Kathy Berden and Mayra Rodriguez, along with a lawyer who tried to deliver the fraudulent certificates of ascertainment, were subpoenaed by the
U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack
in June 2022.
[13]
[14]
Both testified before the committee, but largely avoided responding to questions by
pleading the Fifth
.
[15]
In January 2023, three of the lawful Michigan electors filed a
civil lawsuit
against the false electors in
Kent County
Circuit Court.
[16]
On April 24, 2024 at a pretrial hearing for the case, Michigan's Special agent Howard Shock was asked to confirm if other individuals were co-conspirators in the case. He answered "Yes" to the following names:
Donald Trump
,
Mark Meadows
,
Rudy Giuliani
and
Jenna Ellis
.
[17]
According to the news report, Michigan Attorney General
Dana Nessel
, did not provide a comment about the revelation.
On May 31, 2024, Shock said he was still seeking information through subpoenas or search warrants and that the probe was "open and active".
[18]
Proceedings
[
edit
]
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed the charges on July 18, 2023.
[7]
All defendants were charged with the following eight
felonies
:
[19]
- Forgery
(two counts) and
conspiracy
to commit forgery (one count)
- Election law forgery (two counts) and conspiracy to commit election law forgery (one count)
- Uttering and publishing
(one count) and conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing (one count)
In cases where there are two counts, they are for two documents relating to the presidential and vice-presidential elections.
Defendants
[
edit
]
All 16 signers of the false documents were charged:
[1]
[19]
[20]
The
arraignments
were held in the 54-A
District Court
in
Ingham County
.
[19]
All 16 of the defendants had been arraigned by August 10, 2023, and all
pleaded
not guilty.
[21]
[22]
Nessel's office disclosed during an April 2024 court hearing that Trump,
Mark Meadows
,
Rudy Giuliani
and
Jenna Ellis
were unindicted co-conspirators.
[23]
Preliminary hearings
[
edit
]
Probable cause hearings
are required before the cases are transferred to the 30th Judicial Circuit Court for trial.
[24]
Several preliminary hearings were scheduled for dates ranging from September 2023 through January 2024.
[25]
On October 19, 2023, the Attorney General's office announced that it was dropping charges against James Renner in exchange for a cooperation agreement.
[26]
The defendants were split into two groups for the hearings.
[27]
In February 2024, a preliminary hearing was held for six of the defendants, with Renner and others testifying. The remaining nine defendants were planned to have preliminary hearings at a later date.
[28]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Mauger, Craig; LeBlanc, Beth (July 18, 2023).
"16 false Trump electors face felony charges in Michigan"
.
The Detroit News
.
Archived
from the original on August 29, 2023
. Retrieved
August 29,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
Gardner, Amy; Marley, Patrick; Sanchez, Yvonne Wingett; Dawsey, Josh (August 8, 2023).
"
'Fake' elector plot raised concerns over legal peril, indictment shows"
.
Washington Post
.
ISSN
0190-8286
.
Archived
from the original on August 8, 2023
. Retrieved
September 1,
2023
.
- ^
Feuer, Alan; Benner, Katie (July 27, 2022).
"The Fake Electors Scheme, Explained"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
.
Archived
from the original on August 1, 2023
. Retrieved
September 1,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Cohen, Marshall; Cohen, Zachary; Merica, Dan (January 20, 2022).
"Trump campaign officials, led by Rudy Giuliani, oversaw fake electors plot in 7 states"
.
CNN
.
Archived
from the original on January 20, 2022
. Retrieved
September 1,
2023
.
- ^
Pilkington, Ed; Levine, Sam (August 5, 2023).
"Inside Trump's 'alternate electors' plot to steal the vote in Georgia"
.
The Guardian
.
ISSN
0261-3077
.
Archived
from the original on September 7, 2023
. Retrieved
September 7,
2023
.
- ^
"Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol"
(PDF)
.
U.S. House of Representatives
. December 22, 2022. p. 354
. Retrieved
September 28,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Schneider, Joe (July 18, 2023).
"Michigan Charges Fake Trump Electors With Scheme to Swing 2020"
.
Bloomberg
.
Archived
from the original on July 19, 2023
. Retrieved
August 29,
2023
.
- ^
Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em (September 7, 2023).
"Michigan fake elector described planning with Trump campaign attorneys: 'Mike Pence and Congress [to] make that decision'
"
.
CNN
. Retrieved
September 28,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
Eggert, David (January 14, 2022).
"Michigan AG asks feds to investigate fake GOP electors"
.
Associated Press
.
Archived
from the original on January 15, 2022
. Retrieved
March 10,
2023
.
- ^
Haberman, Maggie; Broadwater, Luke (July 26, 2022).
"
'Kind of Wild/Creative': Emails Shed Light on Trump Fake Electors Plan"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
.
Archived
from the original on August 11, 2022
. Retrieved
August 29,
2023
.
- ^
"American Oversight Obtains Seven Phony Certificates of Pro-Trump Electors"
.
American Oversight
(Press release). March 2, 2021.
Archived
from the original on January 13, 2022
. Retrieved
January 16,
2022
.
- ^
Wu, Nicholas (January 10, 2022).
"Jan. 6 panel ramps up investigation into Trump's state-level pressure"
.
Politico
.
Archived
from the original on January 11, 2022
. Retrieved
January 16,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Boucher, Dave (June 3, 2022).
"Nessel reopens criminal probe of GOP 'fake electors' after no word from feds"
.
Detroit Free Press
.
Archived
from the original on February 16, 2023
. Retrieved
March 10,
2023
.
- ^
Orner, Ben (June 23, 2022).
"Michigan false electors served federal subpoenas as Jan. 6 probe intensifies"
.
mlive
.
Archived
from the original on September 3, 2023
. Retrieved
September 3,
2023
.
- ^
Donahue, Allison R. (December 22, 2022).
"Jan. 6 committee releases testimony of Ryan Kelley, two fake Michigan electors"
.
Michigan Advance
.
Archived
from the original on September 3, 2023
. Retrieved
September 3,
2023
.
- ^
Mauger, Craig (January 12, 2023).
"Michigan Biden electors sue false Trump slate, seeking declaration plot was illegal"
.
The Detroit News
.
Archived
from the original on August 29, 2023
. Retrieved
August 29,
2023
.
- ^
Cohen, Marshall (April 24, 2024).
"Trump is unindicted co-conspirator in 2020 Michigan fake electors probe, investigator testifies | CNN Politics"
.
CNN
. Retrieved
April 25,
2024
.
- ^
Mauger, Craig; Burke, Melissa Nann (May 31, 2024).
"Michigan investigator: Probe into false electors is active, ongoing"
.
Detroit News
.
Archived
from the original on May 31, 2024
. Retrieved
June 4,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Charges 16 'False Electors' with Election Law and Forgery Felonies"
.
Michigan Department of Attorney General
. July 18, 2023.
Archived
from the original on August 29, 2023
. Retrieved
August 29,
2023
.
- ^
Cohen, Marshall (July 18, 2023).
"What we know about the 16 fake electors charged in Michigan | CNN Politics"
.
CNN
.
Archived
from the original on August 29, 2023
. Retrieved
August 29,
2023
.
- ^
Cohen, Marshall (August 10, 2023).
"Michigan's fake GOP electors arraigned on state charges"
.
CNN
.
Archived
from the original on August 16, 2023
. Retrieved
August 29,
2023
.
- ^
Lobo, Arpan; Hendrickson, Clara (August 10, 2023).
"Michigan 'fake electors' charged in election scheme plead not guilty during arraignments"
.
Detroit Free Press
.
Archived
from the original on August 16, 2023
. Retrieved
August 29,
2023
.
- ^
Romero, Laura (April 24, 2024).
"Trump, Giuliani, Meadows are unindicted co-conspirators in Michigan fake elector case, hearing reveals"
. ABC News.
- ^
LeBlanc, Beth (August 4, 2023).
"Judge delays hearing for former GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock in false Trump electors case"
.
The Detroit News
.
Archived
from the original on August 17, 2023
. Retrieved
August 29,
2023
.
- ^
Davidson, Kyle (August 18, 2023).
"Court sets dates for examination in Michigan 2020 false electors cases"
.
Michigan Advance
. Retrieved
September 28,
2023
.
- ^
Cappelletti, Joey (October 19, 2023).
"Michigan Republican charged in false elector plot agrees to cooperation deal"
.
AP News
. Retrieved
October 20,
2023
.
- ^
Meyers, Elle (January 30, 2024).
"Group of alleged Michigan fake electors appear in district court - CBS Detroit"
.
www.cbsnews.com
. Retrieved
April 3,
2024
.
- ^
Williams, Corey (February 13, 2024).
"Fake Michigan Certificate of Votes mailed to U.S. Senate after 2020 presidential vote, official says"
.
AP News
. Retrieved
April 3,
2024
.
External links
[
edit
]