Photo: Moment RF
A Michigan judge has dismissed criminal charges against 15 Republicans accused of falsely posing as official electors for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, per HuffPost.
The case, brought over two years ago by Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, alleged that the defendants met at Michigan GOP headquarters in December 2020 and signed a document falsely declaring themselves “duly elected and qualified electors” for the state, despite President Joe Biden’s victory by nearly 155,000 votes. A Republican-led state Senate investigation confirmed Biden’s win in 2021.
Each of the 15 defendants faced eight felony charges, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery, which carried potential sentences of up to 14 years in prison. One defendant previously had charges dropped after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors. The remaining 15 pleaded not guilty and insisted their actions were not illegal.
During a court hearing on Tuesday (September 9), Ingham County District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons ruled that the group will not face trial, saying there wasn't enough evidence for the case to move forward.
The judge’s decision comes amid other state-level prosecutions in Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Georgia over the 2020 “fake electors” scheme. The effort to install false electors was also a central focus of the federal indictment against Trump, which was abandoned earlier this year, prior to the president starting his second term in office.
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