Sixteen Michigan Republicans who acted as fake electors for then-President Donald Trump in 2020, have been slapped with felony charges for submitting false certificates confirming they were legitimate electors despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
All 16 individuals would get eight criminal charges, including two counts of forgery, which is a 14-year felony, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday. The group includes Republican National Committeewoman Kathy Berden and Meshawn Maddock, former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, CNN reports.
The charges come a year after Nessel asked federal prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into the fake electors.
In a statement, Nessel said that “It would be malfeasance of the greatest magnitude if my department failed to act here in the face of overwhelming evidence of an organized effort to circumvent the lawfully cast ballots of millions of Michigan voters in a presidential election.”
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The group reportedly met on December 14 and signed their names to multiple certificates stating they were the qualified electors for Trump. These false documents were then transmitted to the U.S. Senate and National Archives.
Prosecutors alleged a “coordinated effort” among Republican parties in several battleground states including Michigan to push so-called alternate slates of electors with fake documents. Nessel said she wants federal authorities to make an evaluation for possible charges.
