In a major win for the rule of law, a Michigan judge dismissed Democrat-backed lawfare waged against the state’s 2020 Republican electors on Tuesday, citing a lack of evidence for the charges.
“This is a fraud case, and we have to prove intent,” District Judge Kristen Simmons reportedly said during a Tuesday court hearing. “And I don’t believe there’s evidence sufficient to prove intent.”
According to the Washington Examiner, “The Michigan case began in 2023, when Michigan’s Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel brought charges against [15 state Republicans] who were alleged to have tried to replace the state’s electoral votes for former President Joe Biden with those of [Donald] Trump. All pleaded not guilty.”
The defendants “faced charges of forgery and conspiracy to commit forgery” and “faced 14 years in prison if convicted,” the outlet added. As a result of Simmons’ ruling, the case will not head to trial.
Nessel’s team is “evaluating” whether to appeal the decision, according to left-wing NPR.
While brought by left-wing prosecutors in several 2020 battleground states, the often-cited Democrat claim of there being “fake” Trump electors during the contest’s aftermath is legally dubious at best.
As The Federalist’s Margot Cleveland previously reported, the process conducted in contested states such as Georgia parallel a similar endeavor that took place during the 1960 presidential election between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
As noted by Cleveland, Kennedy and Nixon electors cast their votes for their respective candidates when a disagreement arose over who won Hawaii’s electoral votes. While the state’s acting governor certified the election for Nixon initially, a legal challenge eventually resulted in Kennedy receiving the electoral votes. --->READ MORE HERE
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| AP Photo/Paul Sancya |
Michigan District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons handed allies of President Donald Trump a major legal win on Tuesday, saying in court that 15 Republicans accused of attempting to falsely certify Trump as the winner of the 2020 election in the battleground state will not face trial.
Simmons, who was appointed by Michigan's Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2019, said: "I believe they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress." The judge said the Republicans "seriously believed" there were issues with the 2020 presidential election.
Why It Matters
Prosecutors in Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona have also filed charges against alleged fake electors. None of these cases has reached trial yet, and many have faced delays.
What To Know
Each of the 15 individuals faced eight charges of forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. The top charges had a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
Investigators stated that the group signed a document falsely claiming they were the state's "duly elected and qualified electors" at the Michigan GOP headquarters in December 2020.
The 15 people charged had pleaded not guilty and maintained that their actions were not illegal. The group included former Michigan Republican Party Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock.
A 16th individual accused in this case had the charges against him dropped in 2023 after agreeing to cooperate with the state attorney general's office.
Joe Biden won Michigan by nearly 155,000 votes in the 2020 presidential election, a margin confirmed by a Republican-led state Senate investigation in 2021.
The president of the United States is officially elected by the 538-member Electoral College. In Michigan and 47 other states, electors vote for the candidate who won the popular vote. In Nebraska and Maine, elector votes are based on congressional district and statewide results.
Who Is Judge Kristen Simmons? --->READ MORE HERE
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