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.
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 are among those who 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 Sens. Jake Hoffman (R) and Anthony Kern (R) were also hit with charges long after they signed paperwork on December 14, 2020, certifying that Trump was the winner of the election.
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.
The so-called “fake electors” have maintained that they were acting earnestly, with the belief that Trump had won each of the states.
One example Trump’s allies have pointed to is the presidential election of 196o between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
While Kennedy narrowly won the presidential election, a recount occurred in Hawaii as the initial results showed Nixon had won the state by 140 votes, according to Politico
As a recount was occurring, electors for Nixon met and cast three votes for him, three other electors for Kennedy also gathered and signed a certificate that Kennedy had won the state, instead of Nixon.
Electors for Kennedy and electors for Trump also reportedly used similar wording in their documents.
In this instance, the results were ultimately overturned in Kennedy’s favor.
The indictment of several top allies of the former president’s and several members of the Arizona GOP comes as Trump is currently on trial and facing 34 counts of allegedly falsifying business records in the first degree regarding payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election.
