A judge has scheduled a third day in the hearing to consider motions in Arizona’s fake electors case.
Lawyers for the defendants, who are accused of conspiracy, forgery and fraud for submitting documents to Washington falsely claiming former President Donald Trump defeated President Joe Biden in Arizona in 2020, told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen the case violates Arizona’s anti-SLAPP law that bars baseless prosecutions designed to silence political opponents.
The law had applied only to civil cases until Arizona lawmakers expanded the law to cover criminal cases in 2022.
Attorney Dennis Wilenchik, representing former U.S. Senate candidate Jim Lamon, cited statements Attorney General Kris Mayes made on the campaign trail promising to prosecute the fake electors case.
The case “reeks with political vengeance and retribution,” Wilenchik said.
Other attorneys also cited Mayes’ comments about the accused fake electors and comments made by her chief deputy, Dan Barr, who posted quips on social media after former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was served a subpoena in the case on his birthday.
That, the attorneys argued, proves it was political animus, not a desire to enforce the law, that prompted Mayes to seek a grand jury indictment against the 18 defendants initially charged in the case.
That, the attorneys said, is a violation of the anti-SLAPP law, which states a defendant can ask for a case to be dismissed if they can prove “the legal action was substantially motivated by a desire to deter, retaliate against or prevent the lawful exercise of a constitutional right.”
Mark Williams, Giuliani’s attorney, argued that efforts by the defendants to sow doubt about the results of the 2020 presidential election, even without evidence, are protected speech. And he accused Mayes and Barr of conspiring to violate their rights to make that speech as a way to hurt Trump’s chance to win the presidency in 2024.
“It is a conspiracy on their part to deprive Mr. Giuliani and the other codependents of the right to petition the government,” Williams said.
Meanwhile, the defense argued, Mayes also ignored other lesser known “fake electors” who sought to undermine the results of the 2020 election. Attorney Andrew Marcantel, who represents state Sen. Anthony Kern, argued that proved Mayes specifically targeted the individuals charged in the case before the court, many of whom are prominent Trump allies, because of who they are, not what they did.
After six hours of defense testimony, the court ran out of time to hear from the Attorney General’s Office. That prompted the judge to schedule a third day in the hearing to allow prosecutors to make their case.
I know there's a lot of accusations against the state that were made today,” said Assistant Attorney General Nick Klingerman. “I fully intend, with the time allotted tomorrow, to address those accusations.”
Klingerman reiterated that a grand jury made the decision to indict the 18 individuals who initially faced charges in the fake electors case, a point cited by Mayes’ office on numerous occasions.
“That grand jury was independent and made its own decision to indict this case,” he said.
