The Arizona Attorney General’s Office asked a state grand jury in the "fake electors" case to not indict former President Donald Trump. The disclosure comes from newly released documents.
Prosecutors are seeking to convince a Maricopa County Superior Court judge not to dismiss the case.
Defendants contend that they are being prosecuted for expressing their political views. They specifically cited the state's Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation law. It is designed to prevent public officials from using the courts to punish and prevent speech on political issues.
The defendants face charges of conspiracy in an attempt to submit fake documents that claimed Trump, not President Joe Biden, won the election in Arizona.
In legal filings, an assistant attorney general told the jury they did not have to indict anyone. An unnamed state’s attorney also indicated there may not have been enough evidence to prosecute Trump at the time.
"Far from being politically biased, the Attorney General's Office, despite the grand jury's interest in doing so, asked the grand jury to consider not indicting Donald Trump," said Assistant Attorney General Nicholas Klingerman. Instead, the indictment names the former president as an "unindicted co-conspirator.''
And it wasn't just Trump who escaped criminal charges.
Klingerman said that 30 Republican members and members-elect of the House and Senate had signed a document purporting to be a joint resolution of the Legislature even though the Legislature was not actually in session at that point. They then mailed the document to Congress as legitimate and encouraged Vice President Mike Pence to accept what Klingerman called the "forged Electoral College certificates'' that said Trump and not Biden had won the popular vote in Arizona in 2020 and was entitled to the state's 11 electoral votes.
All this, said Klingerman, counteracts the bid by the defendants who, citing the anti-SLAPP law, say the indictment should be dismissed.
The grand jury earlier this year indicted the 11 fake electors along with seven others associated with Trump or his 2020 campaign on charges ranging from conspiracy to fraud and forgery. It all has to do with what Mayes said was their effort to undermine the results of the presidential race through a scheme to have Congress reject Democratic electors from Arizona and other key states, either to have Trump declared the winner or, at the very least, leave Biden without 270 electoral votes, which would have thrown the issue to federal lawmakers.
The scheme failed, according to the indictment, because various state officials, including Gov. Doug Ducey and House Speaker Rusty Bowers, refused to cooperate. And, ultimately, it was the decision by Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, to accept the official results.
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