UPDATE:
The Washington Post has identified several Trump associates who were also indicted.
WAPO identifies the others as 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.
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) April 25, 2024
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Original story below.
A grand jury in Arizona has handed down indictments against 11 Arizona Republicans at the center of the “fake elector” controversy of 2020 – in which Republicans were attempting to nominate and send “alternate” electors to Washington D.C. – electors who supported the theory that the 2020 election was stolen.
The charges against the 11 include fraud, forgery, and conspiracy.
BREAKING: ARIZONA GRAND JURY INDICTS 11 REPUBLICANS IN FAKE ELECTOR CASE ON FRAUD, FORGERY AND CONSPIRACY CHARGES
THESE INCLUDE SENS. HOFFMAN AND KERN. https://t.co/YbDQtO0OS2
— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) April 24, 2024
More via NBC News:
Among those charged is Kelli Ward, who served as chair of the Arizona GOP during the 2020 election and the immediate aftermath. She tweeted on Jan. 6, 2021, after the attack on the U.S. Capitol: “Congress is adjourned. Send the elector choice back to the legislatures.” Ward was a consistent propagator of false claims that Arizona’s election results were rigged.
Others charged include: state legislators Anthony Kern and Jake Hoffman; Michael Ward, Kelli Ward’s husband; Tyler Bowyer, the Republican National Committee’s Arizona committeeman and the chief operating officer of the Trump-aligned Turning Point USA; Greg Safsten, the former Arizona GOP executive director; former U.S. Senate candidate Jim Lamon; Robert Montgomery, the former head of the Cochise County GOP; and Republican Party activists Samuel Moorhead, Nancy Cottle and Loraine Pellegrino.
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The 11 Republicans met at the Arizona GOP headquarters a month after the 2020 election and signed a certificate claiming to be the 11 electors from the state. They posted the letter to social media and sent it to Congress.
Also mentioned in the indictment is “unindicted co-conspirator 1,” who is believed to be former president Donald Trump.
