PHOENIX (AP) — Authorities on Friday revealed charges of conspiracy, fraud and forgery filed against a former aide to former President Donald Trump and four lawyers in the Arizona fake voter case, but the names of Trump’s former chief of staff Marc Prés and lawyer Rudy Giuliani remained in the dark. The Arizona Attorney General’s Office released a copy of the indictment revealing that nine counts had been filed against Mike Roman, who was Trump’s Election Day operations director, and his lawyers. John Eastman, Christine Bobb, Boris Epstein And Jenna Ellis. The lawyers were accused of organizing an attempt to use false documents to persuade Congress not to certify Joe Biden’s victory.
The office announced Wednesday that conspiracy, fraud and counterfeiting charges filed against 11 Arizona Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely stating that Trump won in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election. They included a former state Republican Party chairman, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate, and two state legislators in exercise.
The identities of seven other defendants, including Giuliani and Meadows, were not released Wednesday because they had not yet received indictments. They were easily identifiable based on the defendants’ descriptions, but the charges against them were unclear. Roman, Epshteyn, Bobb and Ellis declined to comment, did not respond or could not be contacted. Representatives for Eastman, Meadows and Giuliani attacked the accusation as political.
Trump himself was not charged but was called an unindicted co-conspirator.
With these indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the former president have been accused of using false or unproven claims regarding voter fraud related to the election.
Those charged in the Arizona case are scheduled to appear for their first hearing on May 21.
The 11 people who had been appointed as Arizona’s Republican electors gathered in Phoenix on December 14, 2020, to sign a certificate stating that they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and affirming that Trump carried the state. A one minute video The signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was then sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.
Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes.
