16 'fake electors' in Michigan face felony charges : NPR

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<section id="main-section"><article class="story"><a id="mainContent"></a><div class="slug-wrap"> <h3 class="slug"> <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/elections/">2024 Election</a> </h3> </div> <div class="storytitle"> <h1>Michigan's attorney general charges 16 people in fake elector scheme</h1> <input type="hidden" id="title1188437637" value="Michigan's attorney general charges 16 people in fake elector scheme" /> <input type="hidden" id="shortTitle1188437637" value="Michigan's attorney general charges 16 people in fake elector scheme" /> <input type="hidden" id="modelFullUrl1188437637" value="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188437637/michigans-fake-elector-charges" /> </div>  <div id="story-meta" class="story-meta has-byline"> <div class="story-meta__one"> <div class="story-meta__one-inner"> <div class="dateblock dateblock-updated has-tooltip"> <time datetime="2023-07-18T17:27:00-04:00"> <span class="date" aria-describedby="tt-originally-published">Updated July 18, 2023</span><span class="time">5:27 PM ET</span> <span id="tt-originally-published" class="tooltip" role="tooltip"> Originally published <span class="tt-date">July 18, 2023</span><span class="tt-time">5:01 PM ET</span> </span> <span class="icn-updated"></span> </time> </div> </div>  </div>  <div class="story-meta__two"> <div id="storybyline" class="storybyline-wrap linkLocation"> <div class="bucketwrap byline"> <div class="byline-container--block"> <p class="byline__name--block">By </p> <div class="byline byline--block" aria-label="Byline"> <p class="byline__name byline__name--block"> NPR's Washington Desk </p> </div> </div> </div>  </div> </div>  </div>  <div id="storytext" class="storytext storylocation linkLocation"> <div id="res1188440941" class="bucketwrap image large"> <div class="imagewrap has-source-dimensions" data-crop-type="" style=" --source-width: 7425; --source-height: 4176; " > <picture> <source srcset="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23026161724850_wide-e9b005e33fb1430a3bedf1b864559b497334f922.jpg?s=1100&c=85&f=webp" class="img" type="image/webp" data-template="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23026161724850_wide-e9b005e33fb1430a3bedf1b864559b497334f922.jpg?s={width}&c={quality}&f={format}" data-format="webp" /> <source srcset="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23026161724850_wide-e9b005e33fb1430a3bedf1b864559b497334f922.jpg?s=1100&c=85&f=jpeg" class="img" type="image/jpeg" data-template="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23026161724850_wide-e9b005e33fb1430a3bedf1b864559b497334f922.jpg?s={width}&c={quality}&f={format}" data-format="jpeg" /> <img src="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23026161724850_wide-e9b005e33fb1430a3bedf1b864559b497334f922.jpg?s=1100&c=85&f=jpeg" class="img" alt="" data-template="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23026161724850_wide-e9b005e33fb1430a3bedf1b864559b497334f922.jpg?s={width}&c={quality}&f={format}" data-format="jpeg" /> </picture> <div class="enlarge-options"> <a class="enlargelink" href="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23026161724850_wide-e9b005e33fb1430a3bedf1b864559b497334f922.jpg?s=2600&c=100&f=jpeg">Enlarge this image</a> </div> </div> <div class="credit-caption"> <div class="caption-wrap"> <div class="caption" aria-label="Image caption"> <p> Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel walks to her seat before the State of the State address on Jan. 25 at the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich. <b class="credit" aria-label="Image credit"> Al Goldis/AP </b> <b class="hide-caption"><b>hide caption</b></b> </p> </div> <b class="toggle-caption"><b>toggle caption</b></b> </div> <span class="credit" aria-label="Image credit"> Al Goldis/AP </span> </div> <div class="enlarge_measure"> <div class="img_wrap"> <picture> <source data-original="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23026161724850_wide-e9b005e33fb1430a3bedf1b864559b497334f922.jpg?s=2600&c=100&f=webp" type="image/webp"> <source data-original="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23026161724850_wide-e9b005e33fb1430a3bedf1b864559b497334f922.jpg?s=2600&c=100&f=jpeg" type="image/jpeg"> <img data-original="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23026161724850_wide-e9b005e33fb1430a3bedf1b864559b497334f922.jpg?s=2600&c=100&f=jpeg" alt="" /> </picture> </div> </div> <div class="enlarge_html"> <div class="image_data"> <p class="caption">Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel walks to her seat before the State of the State address on Jan. 25 at the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich.</p> <span class="credit" aria-label="Image credit"> Al Goldis/AP </span> </div> </div> </div> <p>Michigan's attorney general has <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2023/07/18/michigan-attorney-general-dana-nessel-charges-16-false-electors">announced</a> charges against 16 people for serving as so-called fake electors following the 2020 presidential election.</p> <p>The electors signed documents falsely attesting that Donald Trump won the state in the election. Trump lost Michigan to Joe Biden. </p> <p>The broader fake elector scheme is part of special counsel Jack Smith's ongoing federal investigation into Trump and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</p> <div id="res1188451580" class="bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col "> <div class="bucket img"> <a class="imagewrap" id="featuredStackSquareImage1188280401" href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188280401/trump-jan-6-letter" data-metrics-ga4='{"category":"recirculation","action":"story_recirculation_click","clickType":"inset box","clickUrl":"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/07\/18\/1188280401\/trump-jan-6-letter"}' ><picture><source srcset="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23199498527107_sq-acc85bd5a981ff207513a29e129d7bbe96f01aea.jpg?s=100&c=15&f=jpeg" data-original="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23199498527107_sq-acc85bd5a981ff207513a29e129d7bbe96f01aea.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg" data-template="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23199498527107_sq-acc85bd5a981ff207513a29e129d7bbe96f01aea.jpg?s={width}&c={quality}&f={format}" data-format="webp" class="img lazyOnLoad" type="image/webp" /><source srcset="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23199498527107_sq-acc85bd5a981ff207513a29e129d7bbe96f01aea.jpg?s=100&c=15&f=jpeg" data-original="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23199498527107_sq-acc85bd5a981ff207513a29e129d7bbe96f01aea.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg" data-template="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23199498527107_sq-acc85bd5a981ff207513a29e129d7bbe96f01aea.jpg?s={width}&c={quality}&f={format}" data-format="jpeg" class="img lazyOnLoad" type="image/jpeg" /><img src="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23199498527107_sq-acc85bd5a981ff207513a29e129d7bbe96f01aea.jpg?s=100&c=15&f=jpeg" data-original="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23199498527107_sq-acc85bd5a981ff207513a29e129d7bbe96f01aea.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg" data-template="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/18/ap23199498527107_sq-acc85bd5a981ff207513a29e129d7bbe96f01aea.jpg?s={width}&c={quality}&f={format}" data-format="jpeg" class="img lazyOnLoad" alt="Trump says he received a letter saying he's a target of DOJ's Jan. 6 investigation" loading="lazy" /></picture></a> <div class="bucketblock"> <h3 class="slug"><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/law/">Law </a></h3> <h3><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188280401/trump-jan-6-letter" data-metrics-ga4='{"category":"recirculation","action":"story_recirculation_click","clickType":"inset box","clickUrl":"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/07\/18\/1188280401\/trump-jan-6-letter"}' >Trump says he received a letter saying he's a target of DOJ's Jan. 6 investigation</a></h3> </div>  </div>  </div>  <p>Those charged in Michigan include Meshawn Maddock, a former co-chair of the state Republican Party. Each defendant faces a slew of felony charges including election law forgery. </p> <p>"The false electors' actions undermined the public's faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan," Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said in a statement Tuesday.</p> <p>The statement details:</p> <blockquote class="edTag"><div> <p>These defendants are alleged to have met covertly in the basement of the Michigan Republican Party headquarters on December 14th, and signed their names to multiple certificates stating they were the "duly elected and qualified electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America for the State of Michigan." These false documents were then transmitted to the United States Senate and National Archives in a coordinated effort to award the state's electoral votes to the candidate of their choosing, in place of the candidates actually elected by the people of Michigan.</p> </div></blockquote> <aside id="ad-backstage-wrap" class="ad-wrap backstage" aria-label="advertisement"> <div class="ad-header "><span>Sponsor Message</span></div> <div id="ad-backstage-News_Politics_2024_Election" class="ad-config ad-backstage has-refresh-enabled" data-ad-config='{"network":"\/6735\/","site":{"desktop":"n6735.NPR","mobile":"n6735.NPRMOBILE"},"zone":"News_Politics_2024_Election","targets":{"testserver":"false","isPodcastEpisode":"false","storyId":"1188437637","agg":["434975886","1088064557"]},"location":"backstage","deferred":false,"isBetweenContent":true,"overflowCount":null,"hasRefreshEnabled":true,"isOutstreamVideoEnabled":true}'></div> <div class="ad-footer "></div> </aside> <p>The charges in Michigan came hours after Trump <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188280401/trump-jan-6-letter">revealed that he received word that he's a target</a> of a federal grand jury probe investigating his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.</p> <p>Trump has called the federal investigation into his actions a "witch hunt."</p> <p>Michigan was one of several states that saw pro-Trump fake electors submit letters to the federal government. Some fake electors have defended their actions by saying they were merely doing so in case Trump's challenges of the election were successful.</p> </div> <div class="share-tools share-tools--secondary" aria-label="Share tools"> <ul> <li class="share-tools__service share-tools__service--facebook"><button class="fbStory1188437637" data-share-facebook='{"storyId": "1188437637" }' data-metrics-ga4='{"category":"share","action":"share","clickName":"facebook"}' ><b class="share-tools__service-name">Facebook</b></button></li> <li class="share-tools__service share-tools__service--flipboard"><button class="story1188437637" data-share-flipboard='{"storyId": "1188437637" }' data-metrics-ga4='{"category":"share","action":"share","clickName":"flipboard"}' ><b class="share-tools__service-name">Flipboard</b></button></li> <li class="share-tools__service share-tools__service--email"><button class='share-tools__email-link' data-story-id='1188437637' data-metrics-ga4='{"category":"share","action":"share","clickName":"email"}' ><b class="share-tools__service-name">Email</b></button></li> </ul> </div>  <div id="newsletter-acquisition-callout-data" data-newsletter="{"newsletterId":"politics","title":"Politics","marketingHeader":"Sign Up For The NPR Politics Newsletter","frequency":"every week","shortDescription":"From the White House to your home \u2014 political news and analysis that matter, sent weekly.","stickyDescription":"Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter for the latest news from Washington and what it means for you. 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16 'fake electors' in Michigan face felony charges : NPR