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Eleven of the defendants in the Arizona election case pleaded not guilty.
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The defendants are accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election.
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The case is shining a spotlight on the alleged fake elector scheme.
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Rudy Giuliani was one of the officials in court.
(NewsReady.com) – The 2020 election was one of the most divisive in American history. Former President Donald Trump‘s campaign filed dozens of lawsuits to reverse Joe Biden‘s victories in key battleground states. Those lawsuits were thrown out by courts across the country. But while they were happening, some of the former POTUS’ closest allies created slates of alternative electors in the event Congress refused to certify the results.
That elector plan has landed more than a dozen Trump loyalists in legal trouble in Arizona.
Indictments
In late April, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) announced that a grand jury returned indictments for 18 Trump loyalists who allegedly tried to overturn the election. Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, attorney Rudy Giuliani, and 16 others.
Eleven of the defendants, including Giuliani, were in court on May 21. All of them pleaded not guilty to the felony charges against them. The former mayor of New York City criticized the case, calling it a “completely political case.” He’s accused of conspiring to give Biden’s Arizona Electoral College votes to Trump.
Maricopa County Judge Shellie Smith ordered Giuliani to travel to the state to post a $10,000 bond within 30 days. The others were released without a bond, but the former mayor was different because he intentionally evaded the Arizona Attorney General’s Office when it tried to serve him notice of the indictment.
Giuliani was finally served on Friday, May 17, as he was leaving his 80th birthday party in Palm Beach, Florida. Authorities learned he’d be in the Sunshine State by watching his livestreams. Prosecutor Nicholas Klingerman asked for the bond because Giuliani had “shown no intent to comply with legal process” in the state.
The Alleged Plan
The defendants are charged with conspiracy, forgery, and fraudulent schemes or artifices related to an alleged attempt to overturn the election. The plan involved persuading Republican officials in Arizona and other states to help draft documents or add their names to already drafted documents that declared Trump the real winner.
Officials and Trump allies signed false slates of electors in multiple states. Those were intended to replace the original elector slates that the state legislatures had certified. However, the documents included a provision that they would only be used if Trump won his lawsuits.
That provision was ignored, and officials reportedly took the fake elector slates to Washington, DC, before the vote was certified and tried to convince Vice President Mike Pence to use them instead of the certified slates. The VP refused, and the plan died.
Copyright 2024, NewsReady.com
