Nevada prosecution of fake electors

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Nevada v. McDonald
CourtClark County District Court
Full case nameState of Nevada v. Michael J. McDonald, et al.
Docket nos.C-23-379122-4[1]
Charge
  • Uttering
  • Offering a false instrument for filing or record
Court membership
Judge(s) sittingMary Kay Holthus

State of Nevada v. Michael J. McDonald, et al. is a state criminal prosecution concerning the Trump fake electors plot in Nevada. The six defendants are accused of offering a false instrument or record and uttering a forged instrument to falsely claim Trump won the state's electoral votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Nevada.[2][3] Among the accused are Nevada's state GOP chair Michael J. McDonald and Clark County GOP chairman Jesse Law.[4]

On December 5, 2023, a grand jury issued the indictment.[5] All six defendants pleaded not guilty, with the case set to go to trial on January 13, 2025.[6] They face between one and five years in prison.[5]

Background

Main articles: Trump fake electors plot and Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election

Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the state's presidential election in Nevada, defeating Republican nominee Donald Trump in the popular vote by 33,596 votes, and gaining all of the state's six electoral votes.[7] Trump and his allies, however, refused to accept the election results and launched an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to remain in power via subverting the election results.[8]

In 2022, during the investigation of the U.S. House select committee on the January 6 attack, Nevada GOP chair Michael J. McDonald and Nevada GOP secretary James DeGraffenreid were both subpoenaed on January 28 and deposed on February 24.[9][10]

In May 2023, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford testified that the fake electors would likely not be charged as he did not believe they had violated any specific law. However, in November 2023, it was reported that Ford was actively investigating individuals who had acted as fake electors.[11]

Indictment

On December 5, 2023, a Nevada grand jury in the District Court for Clark County issued an indictment charging six Nevada Republicans with one count of uttering a forged instrument and offering a false instrument for file or record. The indictment stems from the sending of a document falsely ascertaining that Trump had won the state.[12]

Nevada was the third state to bring charges in the fake elector scheme, after Georgia and Michigan. Arizona later became the fourth state to bring charges.[13]

  • Count 1, category D felony of offering false instrument for file of record: Defendants "knowingly procured" and offered a false instrument to be "filed, registered, or recorded in a public office"
  • Count 2, category C felony of uttering forged instruments: Defendants, with intent to "defraud, uttered, offered, and disposed", falsely put off an instrument as true

Defendants

  • Michael J. McDonald, Nevada's GOP chairman
  • James DeGraffenreid, Nevada's GOP national committeeman
  • Jesse Law, Clark County's GOP chairman
  • James Hindle III, Storey County clerk
  • Shawn Meehan, Nevada Republican who was the chairman of the resolutions
  • Eileen Rice, Nevada Republican elector

References

  1. ^ "indictment - Attorney General - State of Nevada" (PDF). December 6, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  2. ^ Gardner, Amy; Wingett Sanchez, Yvonne (December 6, 2023). "Pro-Trump electors indicted in Nevada, the third state to issue charges". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "6 'fake electors' for Trump are indicted in Nevada". NPR. December 6, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  4. ^ Leingang, Rachel (December 6, 2023). "Six Nevada Republicans charged with casting fake electoral votes in 2020". The Guardian. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Durkee, Alison (December 5, 2023). "'Fake' Pro-Trump Electors Indicted In Nevada". Forbes. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  6. ^ Ritter, Ken (March 4, 2024). "Nevada fake electors won't stand trial until January 2025 under judge's new schedule". The Associated Press. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  7. ^ "Biden courts Nevada voters after narrow 2020 win". Reuters. February 4, 2024. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  8. ^ Broadwater, Luke; Haberman, Maggie (March 4, 2024). "Newly Released Messages Detail Roots of the 'Fake Electors' Scheme". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  9. ^ Nobles, Ryan; Cohen, Marshall; Cohen, Zachary; Grayer, Annie (January 28, 2022). "January 6 committee subpoenas individuals tied to fake elector push". CNN. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  10. ^ "Select Committee subpoenas "alternate electors" from seven states". webharvest.gov archive of january6th.house.gov. January 6 Committee. January 28, 2022. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  11. ^ Woodruff Swan, Betsy (November 15, 2023). "Nevada attorney general is investigating false electors who aided Trump in 2020". Politico. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  12. ^ Korecki, Natasha (December 6, 2023). "Nevada grand jury indicts 'fake electors' who backed Trump in 2020". NBC News. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  13. ^ Brangham, William; Schmitz, Ali (December 7, 2023). "Nevada charges pro-Trump fake electors accused of attempting to overturn 2020 election". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
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