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Michigan's attorney general charges 16 people in fake elector scheme
Michigan's attorney general has announced charges against 16 people for serving as so-called fake electors following the 2020 presidential election.
The electors signed documents falsely attesting that Donald Trump won the state in the election. Trump lost Michigan to Joe Biden.
The broader fake elector scheme is part of special counsel Jack Smith's ongoing federal investigation into Trump and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Those charged in Michigan include Meshawn Maddock, a former co-chair of the state Republican Party. Each defendant faces a slew of felony charges including election law forgery.
"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," Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said in a statement Tuesday.
The statement details:
These defendants are alleged to have met covertly in the basement of the Michigan Republican Party headquarters on December 14th, and signed their names to multiple certificates stating they were the "duly elected and qualified electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America for the State of Michigan." These false documents were then transmitted to the United States Senate and National Archives in a coordinated effort to award the state's electoral votes to the candidate of their choosing, in place of the candidates actually elected by the people of Michigan.
The charges in Michigan came hours after Trump revealed that he received word that he's a target of a federal grand jury probe investigating his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump has called the federal investigation into his actions a "witch hunt."
Michigan was one of several states that saw pro-Trump fake electors submit letters to the federal government. Some fake electors have defended their actions by saying they were merely doing so in case Trump's challenges of the election were successful.
+1 Nessel. Michigan is mostly bad news. Sorry to say. Little respect or regard for the law. Bull and bluster. Popularity elected party affiliated county sheriffs has something to do with it. Some decline to enforce certain laws - especially related to fire arms. Some backed illegal efforts to confiscate voting machines post election. Than again, the entire legal system (judges / prosecutors) is politically chosen. When one considers the role of the law in a constitutional republic is to protect the rights of all against the tyranny of the majority, it makes you wonder.
This entire GD thing is becoming a political football on both sides. . I was hoping for a couple hours of fact based legal discussion this evening, and instead all the cable shows are presenting it as “Us Against Them.” Err … Maybe “Them Against Us” fits better. Ratings. Ratings. Make us dumber and more polarized in the quest.
Of all the evening cable anchors, Dan Abrams, NewsNation, come closest to a calm even handed presentation featuring deliberate rational sounding knowledgeable guests. Abrams is an attorney by training.
I long for Sergeant Joe Friday: “Just the facts, Ma’am. Nothing but the facts.”
This week's New Yorker has a fine article about the rise of Gov. Whitmer and the Dems in my adopted state. Not sure if Condé-Nast paywall allows guests to read a limited number of articles. The portrait of Whitmer, in color and in her signature leather, is worth paying for. The most telling story in this article concerns how the state's Republicans botched up a proposal on health insurance that would have required purchasing a separate rider for coverage of termination of pregnancy. Whitmer rightly accused the opposition of forcing women to buy "rape insurance." No wonder the party of Lincoln here is in total disarray.
Thanks @BenWP - I’d forgotten I have a New Yorker subscription. ($129 year thru Apple). Still decent. Not what it was 5-10 years ago. But, what is? You can also listen to most articles. This article’s 40 minutes.
You know your state’s Rs are in trouble when the crazy pillow guy starts making the rounds / speaking at their meetings.
Comments
Michigan's attorney general charges 16 people in fake elector scheme
This entire GD thing is becoming a political football on both sides. . I was hoping for a couple hours of fact based legal discussion this evening, and instead all the cable shows are presenting it as “Us Against Them.” Err … Maybe “Them Against Us” fits better. Ratings. Ratings. Make us dumber and more polarized in the quest.
Of all the evening cable anchors, Dan Abrams, NewsNation, come closest to a calm even handed presentation featuring deliberate rational sounding knowledgeable guests. Abrams is an attorney by training.
I long for Sergeant Joe Friday: “Just the facts, Ma’am. Nothing but the facts.”
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/24/how-gretchen-whitmer-made-michigan-a-democratic-stronghold
Two people I do NOT want to be prosecuted by are Jack Smith and Dana Nessel. Ouch.
Not wanting to go full nutzoid, but two things exist. You get what you vote for and you reap what you sow.
And so it goes,
Peace,
Rono
You know your state’s Rs are in trouble when the crazy pillow guy starts making the rounds / speaking at their meetings.