An Arizona grand jury charged top 2020 Trump campaign aides and lawyers alongside 11 so-called \u201cfake electors\u201d on Wednesday over their efforts to alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\u00a0indictment<\/a>\u00a0lists the 11 fake electors, but redacted the names of seven other individuals who were indicted following the investigation led by Arizona Attorney General\u00a0Kris Mayes\u00a0(D). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0reported the names of those seven individuals as \u201cformer Trump White House chief of staff\u00a0Mark Meadows, attorneys\u00a0Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman\u00a0and\u00a0Christina Bobb, top campaign adviser\u00a0Boris Epshteyn\u00a0and former campaign aide\u00a0Mike Roman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The felony charges stem from the 11 Trump supporters gathering at the Arizona GOP\u2019s headquarters following the 2020 election to sign fraudulent certifications claiming to be Arizona\u2019s 11 official electors to the Electoral College, with the intent that their votes would eventually be counted for\u00a0Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are accused of allegedly aiding an unsuccessful strategy to award the state\u2019s electoral votes to Trump instead of Biden after the 2020 election,\u201d the\u00a0Post<\/em>\u00a0added<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn Arizona, and the United States, the people elected Joseph Biden <\/a>as President on November 3, 2020,\u201d the indictment reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnwilling to accept this fact, Defendants and unindicted coconspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to keep Unindicted Coconspirator 1 in office against the will of Arizona\u2019s voters,\u201d it continued, referring to Trump. \u201cThis scheme would have deprived Arizona voters of their right to vote and have their votes counted.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Ex-Arizona Republican Party chairwoman\u00a0Kelli Ward\u00a0is among those charged for her role as a fake electoral. Politico\u2019s\u00a0Kyle Cheney\u00a0noted that\u00a0Trump<\/a>\u00a0himself is listed as an unindicted co-coconspirator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mayes released a video with the indictment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe conducted a thorough and professional investigation over the past 13 months into the fake electors scheme in our state. I understand for some of you today didn\u2019t come fast enough. And I know I\u2019ll be criticized by others for conducting this investigation at all. But as I\u2019ve stated before, and we\u2019ll say here again, today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n