Michigan charges 16 Trump 'false electors' with felonies in 1st such case from 2020 election


Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) filed felony charges Tuesday against 16 Republicans who signed fake electoral certificates falsely attesting that former President Donald Trump won the state in 2020. Each of the "false electors" face eight felony counts, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election law forgery, and up to 14 years in prison on the most serious counts, if convicted.
The 16 Republicans, including Republican National Committee member Kathy Berden and former Michigan Republican Party Co-Chairwoman Meshawn Maddock, met secretly in the basement of the state GOP headquarters on Dec. 14, 2020, and signed certificates falsely attesting that they were in the Michigan Capitol and Trump had won the state, the indictment says. President Biden carried Michigan by more than 150,000 votes.
Nessel's indictment says the 16 Republicans were required to surrender their phones to ensure the event was recorded. When Maddock posted about it on Facebook later in the day, fake elector John Haggard texted Berden asking, "Was she not told at the meeting to keep quite [sic]?" according to text messages from Bergen's phone. "Yes, we all were," Berden replied.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"The false electors' actions undermined the public's faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan," Nessel said in a statement. "My department has prosecuted numerous cases of election law violations throughout my tenure, and it would be malfeasance of the greatest magnitude if my department failed to act here in the face of overwhelming evidence of an organized effort to circumvent the lawfully cast ballots of millions of Michigan voters in a presidential election."
These are the first charges filed against fake pro-Trump electors. Similar false electoral certificates were signed by ersatz electors in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. This scheme by Trump allies to overturn Biden's victory is also part of special counsel Jack Smith's federal investigation of the 2020 election aftermath.
Prosecutors in Arizona and Georgia are investigating the fake GOP electors. Georgia's Republican Party has spent more than $520,000 in legal costs in 2023 to defend these electors amid Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. At least eight of the fake electors have accepted immunity deals in exchange for their testimony.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’
Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
October 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailout
Talking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US