Current:Home > ContactNevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case -MoneyStream
Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
View
Date:2025-04-17 08:12:08
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A slate of six Nevada Republicans have again been charged with submitting a bogus certificate to Congressthat declared Donald Trump the winner of the presidential battleground’s 2020 election.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Thursday that the state’s fake electors casehad been revived in Carson City, the capital, where he filed a new complaint this week charging the defendants with “uttering a forged instrument,” a felony. The original indictment was dismissed earlier this yearafter a state judge ruled that Clark County, the state’s most populous county and home to Las Vegas, was the wrong venue for the case.
Ford, a Democrat, said the new case was filed as a precaution to avoid the statute of limitations expiring while the Nevada Supreme Court weighs his appeal of the judge’s ruling.
“While we disagree with the finding of improper venue and will continue to seek to overturn it, we are preserving our legal rights in order to ensure that these fake electors do not escape justice,” Ford said. “The actions the fake electors undertook in 2020 violated Nevada criminal law and were direct attempts to both sow doubt in our democracy and undermine the results of a free and fair election. Justice requires that these actions not go unpunished.”
Officials have said it was part of a larger scheme across seven battleground states to keep Trump in the White House after losing to Democrat Joe Biden. Criminal cases have also been brought in Michigan, Georgiaand Arizona.
Trump lost in 2020to Biden by more than 30,000 votes in Nevada. An investigation by then-Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, found no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state.
The defendants are state GOP chair Michael McDonald; Clark County GOP chair Jesse Law; national party committee member Jim DeGraffenreid; national and Douglas County committee member Shawn Meehan; Storey County clerk Jim Hindle; and Eileen Rice, a party member from the Lake Tahoe area.
In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, McDonald’s attorney, Richard Wright, called the new complaint a political move by a Democratic state attorney general who also announced Thursday he plans to run for governor in 2026.
“We will withhold further comment and address the issues in court,” said Wright, who has spoken often in court on behalf of all six defendants.
Attorneys for the others did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Their lawyers previously argued that Ford improperly brought the case before a grand jury in Democratic-leaning Las Vegas instead of in a northern Nevada city, where the alleged crimes occurred.
___
Associated Press writer Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
veryGood! (497)
Related
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- Health officials push to get schoolchildren vaccinated as more US parents opt out
- A deal on US border policy is closer than it seems. Here’s how it is shaping up and what’s at stake
- 2 men, Good Samaritans killed after helping crashed car on North Carolina highway
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- A deal on US border policy is closer than it seems. Here’s how it is shaping up and what’s at stake
- Police officer crashes patrol car into St. Louis gay bar then arrests co-owner for assault
- Homes feared destroyed by wildfire burning out of control on Australian city of Perth’s fringe
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Taylor Swift’s new romance, debt-erasing gifts and the eclipse are among most joyous moments of 2023
Ranking
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Chemical leak at Tennessee cheese factory La Quesera Mexicana sends 29 workers to the hospital
- Survivor Season 45 Crowns Its Winner
- Newly released video shows how police moved through UNLV campus in response to reports of shooting
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- How economics can help you stick to your New Year's resolution
- Singer David Daniels no longer in singers’ union following guilty plea to sexual assault
- A St. Louis nursing home closes suddenly, prompting wider concerns over care
Recommendation
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
US historians ID a New Mexico soldier killed during WWII, but work remains on thousands of cases
Dunkin' employees in Texas threatened irate customer with gun, El Paso police say
China emerged from ‘zero-COVID’ in 2023 to confront new challenges in a changed world
A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
Tennessee judge pushes off issuing ruling in Ja Morant lawsuit
Arizona lawmaker Athena Salman resigning at year’s end, says she will join an abortion rights group
AP PHOTOS: In North America, 2023 was a year for all the emotions