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   Trump allies Meadows, Giuliani among 18 indicted in Arizona election   
   interference case   
      
    Joe Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes   
      
   The Associated Press · Posted: Apr 24, 2024 9:04 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1   
   hour ago   
      
   An Arizona grand jury has indicted Donald Trump's former chief of staff   
   Mark Meadows, lawyer Rudy Giuliani and 16 others for their efforts to use   
   so-called fake electors to try to overturn Trump's loss to Joe Biden in   
   the 2020 presidential election.   
      
   The indictment released Wednesday names 11 Republicans who submitted a   
   document to the U.S. Congress falsely declaring that Trump won Arizona in   
   2020, including the former state party chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate   
   and two sitting state lawmakers. They're charged with nine counts each of   
   conspiracy, fraud and forgery. The identities of seven other defendants,   
   including Giuliani and Meadows, were not immediately released because they   
   had not yet been served with the charges.   
      
   Trump, who is described in the indictment as an unindicted co-conspirator,   
   has argued that he can't be prosecuted for acts he committed while serving   
   as president. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday will hear arguments on   
   his bid to avoid federal prosecution over his efforts to reverse his loss.   
      
   With the indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the   
   former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims   
   about voter fraud related to the election. Heading into a likely November   
   rematch with Biden, Trump continues to spread lies about the last election   
   that are echoed by many of his supporters. AG won't see democracy   
   'undermined'   
      
   "I will not allow American democracy to be undermined," Arizona's Attorney   
   General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said in a video released by her office.   
   "It's too important."   
      
   The Associated Press was able to determine the identities of the unnamed   
   defendants based on their descriptions in the indictment.   
      
   One is an attorney "who was often identified as the mayor" and spread   
   false allegations of election fraud, a description that clearly describes   
   Giuliani. Another is Trump's "chief of staff in 2020," which describes   
   Meadows.   
      
   Descriptions of other unnamed defendants point to Mike Roman, who was   
   Trump's director of election day operations; John Eastman, a lawyer who   
   devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the   
   election; and Christina Bobb, a lawyer who worked with Giuliani. Eastman   
   and Bobb did not respond to text messages seeking comment, nor did a   
   lawyer who is representing Roman in a case in Georgia.   
      
   George Terwilliger, a lawyer representing Meadows, said he had not yet   
   seen the indictment but if Meadows is named, "it is a blatantly political   
   and politicized accusation and will be contested and defeated."   
      
   Giuliani's political adviser, Ted Goodman, decried what he called "the   
   continued weaponization of our justice system." Rudy Giuliani is seen   
   speaking to members of the media in Manchester, N.H., in January 2024.   
   Giuliani speaks to members of the media in Manchester, N.H., in January.   
   (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)   
      
   The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona's Republican electors   
   met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were   
   "duly elected and qualified" electors and claiming that Trump carried the   
   state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social   
   media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later   
   sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.   
      
   Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes. Of the eight lawsuits that   
   unsuccessfully challenged his victory in the state, one was filed by the   
   11 Republicans who would later sign the certificate declaring Trump as the   
   winner.   
      
       What to know as Supreme Court hears landmark presidential immunity   
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       Analysis   
       Trump's 'law and order' message more complicated this time around on   
       campaign trail   
      
   Their lawsuit asked a judge to decertify the results that gave Biden his   
   victory in Arizona and block the state from sending them to the Electoral   
   College. In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa said   
   the Republicans lacked legal standing, waited too long to bring their case   
   and "failed to provide the court with factual support for their   
   extraordinary claims."   
      
   Days after that lawsuit was dismissed, the 11 Republicans participated in   
   the certificate signing. Indictments in other states   
      
   The Arizona charges come after a string of indictments against fake   
   electors in other states.   
      
   In December, a Nevada grand jury indicted six Republicans on felony   
   charges of offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged   
   instrument in connection with false election certificates. They have   
   pleaded not guilty.   
      
   Michigan's attorney general in July filed felony charges that included   
   forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery against 16 Republican   
   fake electors. One had charges dropped after reaching a co-operation deal,   
   and the 15 remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty.   
      
   Three fake electors also have been charged in Georgia alongside Trump and   
   others in a sweeping indictment accusing them of participating in a   
   wide-ranging scheme to illegally overturn the results. They have pleaded   
   not guilty.   
      
   WATCH l Explaining the RICO prosecution of Trump, allies in Georgia:   
   Trump's indictments explained: Why Georgia is charging him like a 'Mob   
   boss' | About That 8 months ago   
   Duration 15:05   
   Former U.S. president Donald Trump is facing criminal charges for the   
   fourth time, after a Georgia grand jury issued a sweeping indictment   
   accusing him of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden and   
   of running a ‘criminal enterprise.’ Andrew Chang explains all of the   
   charges, and why the latest are so significant.   
      
   In Wisconsin, 10 Republicans who posed as electors settled a civil   
   lawsuit, admitting their actions were part of an effort to overturn   
   Biden's victory. There is no known criminal investigation in Wisconsin.   
      
   Trump also was indicted in August in federal court over the fake electors   
   scheme. The indictment states that when Trump was unable to persuade state   
   officials to illegally swing the election, he and his Republican allies   
   began recruiting a slate of fake electors in battleground states —   
   Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin   
   — to sign certificates falsely stating he, not Biden, had won their   
   states. Trump has pleaded not guilty.   
      
       As Republican Party chair departs, some fear party will become   
       'Trump's playpen'   
      
      
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