Here’s who was charged in the Arizona 2020 election interference case
PHOENIX — Eighteen of former President Donald Trump’s associates and allies have been indicted in Arizona for their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results by trying to award the state’s electoral votes to Trump instead of Joe Biden, who won the state by 10,457 votes.
The group includes Trump’s final White House chief of staff and six aides or attorneys who worked on or supported his 2020 campaign. One is now advising his 2024 presidential campaign, and another is a senior official at the Republican National Committee. Also indicted were 11 Arizona Republicans who signed paperwork on Dec. 14, 2020, that falsely purported Trump was the rightful winner and then transmitted it to the federal government.
All defendants appear to have been charged under each count of the indictment. The charges are as follows: conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, fraudulent schemes and practices, and forgery. All are felonies, with the most serious being fraudulent schemes and artifices, which carries a standard sentence of five years in prison.
Here are the 18 people charged:
— — -
Mark Meadows
As Trump’s final White House chief of staff, Meadows was among those close to the president who allegedly evaluated a plan for how legislatures could overturn the will of voters through appointing alternate slates of Trump electors. Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.) was among the GOP members of Congress who communicated with Meadows about a version of such a strategy.
Meadows was charged in Georgia last year with criminally conspiring to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss in Georgia and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer over his involvement in Trump’s phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) during which Trump tried to pressure him to reverse Biden’s victory. The latter charge was dismissed this year, with the judge overseeing the case saying the indictment lacked “sufficient detail.” Meadows has been trying to move his part of the case from state to federal court but has been unsuccessful so far.
Meadows has sought to downplay his involvement in the alternate elector plan. In a federal court hearing in August in Atlanta, he repeatedly testified that he played no role in the effort. Prosecutors have cast doubt on that claim, introducing into evidence December 2020 emails about the elector plan that Meadows exchanged with a longtime Trump campaign aide.
Meadows lawyer George Terwilliger said Wednesday that he had not yet seen the indictment when a Washington Post reporter called him. After reviewing the indictment, he said, “If Mr. Meadows is named in this indictment, it is a blatantly political and politicized accusation and will be contested and defeated.”
— — -
Rudy Giuliani
After the 2020 election, Giuliani sought help from Arizona Republicans as he tried to undo Trump’s narrow loss in the state. He appealed to then-House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R), who said he told Trump and Giuliani he would not violate his oath of office and undo the will of voters. Giuliani also left voice mails for members of the GOP-controlled Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which helps administer voting in the swing county. Giuliani attended a Nov. 30, 2020, event in downtown Phoenix arranged by a GOP state lawmaker and attended by conservative lawmakers and members of Congress, where he and others falsely claimed widespread fraud had marred the election. The next day, during an in-person meeting, Giuliani pressed Bowers to help overturn the election results, according to Bowers.
Bowers told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that he recalls Giuliani saying, “We’ve got lots of theories — we just don’t have the evidence.”
In Georgia, Giuliani was charged with 13 counts, the same number as Trump, although three of those charges — all related to the former mayor lobbying state officials — were dismissed this year. Some of the remaining charges are related to his alleged involvement in the alternate elector plan in the state.
“The continued weaponization of our justice system should concern every American, as it does permanent, irrevocable harm to the country,” Ted Goodman, a spokesman for Giuliani, said in response to the indictment.
— — -
Jenna Ellis
Ellis joined Giuliani in presenting baseless claims of widespread malfeasance in states lost by Trump. She accompanied Giuliani in Phoenix for the downtown meeting, where unfounded claims of election fraud were circulated, and was by his side for the meeting with Bowers. She also circulated a theory that the 2020 election results could be overturned.
Last year Atlanta-area prosecutors charged Ellis with conspiring to overturn the election and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer. In October, she pleaded guilty to a single felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. Ellis tearfully expressed “deep remorse” for failing to ensure the accuracy of statements she made about the election and said she no longer believed the false claims. In exchange for avoiding jail time, she agreed to provide evidence that could implicate other defendants and testify in any future trials.
A lawyer who has represented Ellis in the election interference case in Georgia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
— — -
Boris Epshteyn
In the weeks after Trump’s loss, the Trump campaign adviser was in touch with figures central to the elector strategy outside of Arizona — and within, according to records. In emails after Trump’s loss, Epshteyn wondered whether templates of pro-Trump elector ballots could be made for states that Trump lost, including Arizona. Epshteyn’s work to try to undo Trump’s loss extended into 2022, when Bowers said that he spoke with the Trump adviser, who unsuccessfully sought support for legislation that would have reversed the former president’s defeat.
Unlike the other top Trump associates charged, this is the first time Epshteyn has been indicted for his alleged actions after the 2020 election. He remains close to Trump and is a top adviser for the former president’s 2024 campaign.
Epshteyn declined to comment on the indictment.
— — -
Mike Roman
As Trump’s 2020 campaign director of Election Day operations, Roman helped coordinate the alternate elector plan with Trump lawyers and top aides. He played a key role in helping to organize the strategy and communicated about the Arizona plan with key Republicans in the state, including then-state GOP Chair Kelli Ward, records show.
Roman was charged with seven counts in the Atlanta area last year, all of which were related to his alleged involvement with the alternate electors in that state. Roman’s name has been in the news this year because his attorney in the Georgia case accused the county district attorney of having an improper romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she appointed to lead the case. After weeks of drama and a high-profile hearing, the judge overseeing the case allowed the district attorney and her office to continue their prosecution as long as the special prosecutor resigned.
A lawyer who represents Roman in the election interference case in Georgia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
— — -
John Eastman
Eastman, a conservative attorney who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, played a key role in drafting the unusual legal strategy to try to help Trump stay in power by using the vice president’s ceremonial role overseeing the election certification proceeding. He, Giuliani and other Trump allies are accused of pressuring lawmakers in Arizona and six other states, including Georgia, to undo Trump’s 2020 election loss.
The indictment notes Eastman pushed Bowers to convene a special legislative session to decertify Arizona’s legitimate presidential electors.
“Just do it, and let the court sort it out,” Eastman allegedly said. Bowers declined.
Eastman is also facing criminal charges in Georgia over his alleged efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in that state. In March, a California judge recommended that Eastman be disbarred there over his role in the Trump campaign’s efforts to reverse the 2020 election.
“The phenomenon of partisan lawfare grows more troubling by the day,” Charles Burnham, an attorney for Eastman, said in an email responding to the Arizona charges. “Professor Eastman is innocent of criminal conduct in Arizona or any other place and will fight these charges as he has all the other unjust accusations leveled against him.”
— — -
Christina Bobb
Bobb is a former anchor for One America News, the far-right network that promoted Trump’s debunked allegations of a rigged election. She is also a lawyer and started volunteering to help Trump’s personal attorneys in November 2020, shortly after the president put Giuliani in charge of challenging the election results in court.
Wednesday’s indictment describes a tweet Bobb published on Dec. 6, 2020, criticizing the Arizona House speaker at the time, Bowers, of using COVID as an excuse to close the chamber for a week.
“Sounds like he needs an excuse to give his angry constituents about why he’s refusing to call a session and examine the fraud in his state,” the tweet stated. “First time it’s been closed the whole pandemic.”
The indictment also cited a text from Trump aide Jason Miller describing a phone call with Giuliani in which the former New York mayor explained that Epshteyn had been coordinating the state elector effort and that Miller should connect with him and Bobb.
Last month, Bobb was named the Republican National Committee’s counsel for election integrity.
Neither Bobb nor a lawyer who has represented her immediately responded to a request for comment.
— — -
Kelli Ward
Ward, a vocal Trump ally and the then-chair of the Arizona Republican Party, communicated with national and state Republicans aligned with the then-president. As ballots from the 2020 election were still being counted, she texted one Maricopa County supervisor and asked him to halt vote-counting. Weeks later, after Trump’s defeat, she communicated with national and state allies about convening pro-Trump electors. Ward also asked questions to a key architect of the elector strategy, records show, and asked questions about the names and titles that appeared on draft templates of the false elector paperwork.
The indictment ticked through a pressure campaign allegedly mounted against the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in which Ward is accused of playing a significant role.
A lawyer representing Ward and most of the other Trump electors said, “We are certainly disappointed in today’s developments and are confident that these charges are unwarranted.”
— — -
Other Arizona Republicans
The others facing charges were Trump’s electors in Arizona, who signed paperwork falsely purporting that Trump won the state. They are:
— Tyler Bowyer, a Republican national committeeman from Arizona and chief operating officer of the pro-Trump conservative group Turning Point Action.
— Jake Hoffman, a Republican state senator.
— Anthony Kern, a Republican state senator.
— Jim Lamon, GOP donor and 2022 U.S. Senate candidate.
— Greg Safsten, then-executive director of the Arizona GOP.
— Michael Ward, husband to Kelli Ward.
— Nancy Cottle, a conservative activist who was the chairwoman of the electors.
— Loraine Pellegrino, a conservative activist who was the secretary of the electors.
— Robert Montgomery, a conservative activist.
— Samuel Moorhead, a conservative activist.
The lawyer representing most of the electors said that, “as has been said many times before, our clients look forward to their day in court.”
— — -
Gardner reported from Portland, Ore., and Bailey reported from Atlanta. Patrick Marley in Madison, Wis., contributed to this report.