The court documents also identified a ‘prior U.S. president.’
A grand jury in Arizona on April 24 indicted 18 Republicans, including Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, with conspiracy, fraud, and forgery for submitting a document to Congress “falsely” declaring that President Donald Trump beat then-candidate Joe Biden in Arizona’s popular vote during the 2020 presidential election.
The court documents identify a “prior U.S. president,” presumably referring to President Trump, as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes blacked out the names of seven individuals indicted in the records released. However, it is clear from court documents that President Trump’s former personal lawyer Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Meadows are among the defendants whose names were redacted from the indictment.
Her office noted in a statement that the names would be disclosed once those individuals were served with the charges.
“In Arizona, and the United States, the people elected Joseph Biden as President on November 3, 2020,” the indictment reads.
“Unwilling to accept this fact, Defendants and unindicted coconspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to keep Unindicted Coconspirator 1 in office against the will of Arizona’s voters. This scheme would have deprived Arizona voters of their right to vote and have their votes counted.”
Electors are people selected to officially cast a state’s electoral votes within the U.S. Electoral College system used during presidential elections.
The “fake electors” scheme involved alternate electors from seven states where Joe Biden was declared the winner. These electors pledged to support President Trump by casting ballots on Dec. 14, 2020, the date when electors nationwide were required to meet at state capitols to vote. Although labeled “fake electors,” they viewed themselves as contingent electors. They believed they were putting in a procedural vote for President Trump to reserve the right of such a vote in the case of President Trump’s succeeding in legal challenges reviewing the integrity of the state’s election outcome, adding that it was important to recognize that the “Constitution takes precedent over statute.”
