Old page wikitext, before the edit (old_wikitext) | '{{Short description|2020 U.S. Republican election fraud scheme}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
Following the results of the [[2020 United States presidential election]], an [[Obstructing an official proceeding|obstruction]] scheme was devised by 45th U.S. president [[Donald Trump]] and his allies in seven key [[Swing state|swing states]] to create and submit fraudulent [[certificates of ascertainment]] that falsely asserted Trump had won the [[United States Electoral College|electoral college]] vote in those states.<ref>{{cite news |title=Trump allies' fake Electoral College certificates offer fresh insights about plot to overturn Biden's victory |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/politics/trump-overturn-2020-election-fake-electoral-college/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]]|date=January 12, 2022 |author1=Zachary Cohen |author2=Marshall Cohen |access-date=July 24, 2022 |archive-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113003417/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/politics/trump-overturn-2020-election-fake-electoral-college/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The intent of the scheme was to pass the fraudulent certificates to then-vice president [[Mike Pence]] in the hope he would count them, rather than the authentic certificates, and thus overturn [[Joe Biden]]'s victory. This effort was predicated on a fringe legal theory outlined by Trump attorney [[John Eastman]] in the [[Eastman memos]], which claimed the vice president has constitutional discretion to swap official electors with an alternate slate during the certification process, thus changing the outcome of the electoral college vote and the overall winner of the presidential race. The scheme came to be known as the [[Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election#"Pence Card" conspiracy|Pence Card]]. By 2023, many individuals in several states had been indicted for their alleged involvement, with other investigations underway.
Trump's personal attorney, [[Rudy Giuliani]], a "central figure" in the plot,<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Fausset |first1=Richard |last2=Hakim |first2=Danny |date=2022-08-15 |title=Giuliani Is Told He Is a Target in Trump Election Inquiry in Georgia |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/us/graham-georgia-investigation-trump.html |access-date=2023-06-02 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602163946/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/us/graham-georgia-investigation-trump.html |url-status=live }}</ref> coordinated the scheme across the seven states.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Merica |first=Marshall Cohen, Zachary Cohen, Dan |date=2022-01-20 |title=Trump campaign officials, led by Rudy Giuliani, oversaw fake electors plot in 7 states {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/politics/trump-campaign-officials-rudy-giuliani-fake-electors/index.html |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=[[CNN]]|language=en |archive-date=January 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120212949/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/politics/trump-campaign-officials-rudy-giuliani-fake-electors/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In a conference call on January 2, 2021, Trump, Eastman, and Giuliani spoke to some 300 Republican state legislators in an effort to persuade them to convene [[Special legislative session|special legislative sessions]] to replace legitimate Biden electors with fake Trump electors based on unfounded allegations of vote fraud.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/election-overturn-plans/ |title=All the ways Trump tried to overturn the election — and how it could happen again - Washington Post |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=June 2, 2023 |archive-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403113644/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/election-overturn-plans/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Trump pressured the [[United States Justice Department|Justice Department]] to falsely announce it had found election fraud, and he attempted to install a new acting attorney general who had drafted a letter falsely asserting such election fraud had been found, in an attempt to persuade the Georgia legislature to convene and reconsider its Biden electoral votes.<ref name="release">{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/politics/jan-6-committee-final-report/index.html |first1=Zachary |last1=Cohen |first2=Annie |last2=Grayer |first3=Jeremy |last3=Herb |first4=Tierney |last4=Sneed |first5=Devan |last5=Cole |first6=Geneva |last6=Sands |first7=Katelyn |last7=Polantz |first8=Hannah |last8=Rabinowitz |title=January 6 committee releases final report, says Trump should be barred from office |work=[[CNN]]|date=December 23, 2022 |access-date=December 22, 2022 |archive-date=January 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116021456/https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/politics/jan-6-committee-final-report/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Trump and Eastman asked [[Republican National Committee]] chair [[Ronna McDaniel]] to enlist the committee's assistance in gathering fake "contingent" electors.<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" /> A senator's chief of staff tried to pass a list of fraudulent electors to Pence minutes before the vice president was to certify the election.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ron Johnson tried to hand fake elector info to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, panel reveals |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/21/jan-6-panel-trump-overturn-2020-election-00040816 |work=[[Politico]] |date=June 21, 2022|author1=Nicholas Wu|author2=Kyle Cheney}}</ref> The scheme was one of many elements in the [[attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election|attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election]] and was investigated by the [[January 6 committee]] and is being investigated by the Justice Department. The January 6 committee's final report identified lawyer [[Kenneth Chesebro]] as the plot's actual architect.<ref name="release" />
The [[Smith special counsel investigation]] is investigating Trump's role in the events. Testimony has revealed that Trump was fully aware of the fake electors plan,<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" /><ref name="Breuninger_6/22/2022" /> and knew that Eastman's plan for Pence to obstruct the certification of electoral votes was a violation of the [[Electoral Count Act]].<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" />
== Origins ==
{{US 2020 presidential elections series}}On November 4, the day after the election, White House chief of staff [[Mark Meadows]] received a text message calling for an "aggressive strategy" of having the Republican-led legislatures of three uncalled states "just send their own electors to vote and have it go to the [Supreme Court]". The message was reportedly sent by Trump's secretary of energy, [[Rick Perry]].<ref name="independentPerry">{{Cite web |last=Feinberg |first=Andrew |date=December 17, 2021 |title=Rick Perry sent Meadows text on 'aggressive' strategy to toss election, report says |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/rick-perry-meadows-texts-capitol-b1978490.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218102307/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/rick-perry-meadows-texts-capitol-b1978490.html |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |access-date=December 18, 2021 |website=[[The Independent]] |language=en}}</ref>
{{quote box
| width = 30em|"We would just be sending in 'fake' electoral votes to Pence so that 'someone' in Congress can make an objection when they start counting votes, and start arguing that the 'fake' votes should be counted," Jack Wilenchik, a Phoenix-based lawyer who helped organize the pro-Trump electors in Arizona, wrote in a Dec. 8, 2020, email to Boris Epshteyn, a strategic adviser for the Trump campaign.<br> In a follow-up email, Mr. Wilenchik wrote that {{"'}}alternative' votes is probably a better term than 'fake' votes," adding a smiley face emoji."<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" />
}}
On November 5, [[Roger Stone]] dictated a message saying that “any legislative body” that has "overwhelming evidence of fraud" can choose their own electors to cast Electoral College votes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mazza |first=Ed |date=2023-08-17 |title=Explosive New Footage Shows Roger Stone Hatching Trump's 2020 Election Plot |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/roger-stone-election-plot-footage_n_64dd8a74e4b0ee8ece70844a |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=[[HuffPost]] |language=en}}</ref> That same day, [[Donald Trump Jr.]] sent a text message to Meadows outlining paths to subvert the Electoral College process and ensure his father a second term. He wrote, "It's very simple. We have multiple paths. We control them all. We have operational control. Total leverage. Moral high ground. POTUS must start second term now." Trump Jr. continued, "Republicans control 28 states Democrats 22 states. Once again Trump wins," adding, "We either have a vote WE control and WE win OR it gets kicked to Congress 6 January 2021."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Nobles |first1=Ryan |last2=Cohen |first2=Zachary |last3=Grayer |first3=Annie |date=April 8, 2022 |title=CNN Exclusive: 'We control them all': Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows ideas for overturning 2020 election before it was called |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/08/politics/donald-trump-jr-meadows-text/index.html |access-date=June 13, 2022 |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408205412/https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/08/politics/donald-trump-jr-meadows-text/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
On November 6, Congressman [[Andy Biggs]] sent a text message to Meadows, asking about efforts to encourage Republican legislators in certain states to send alternate slates of electors, to which Meadows replied, "I love it."<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |last=Goodman |first=Ryan |date=June 16, 2022 |title=Timeline: False Alternate Slate of Electors Scheme, Donald Trump and His Close Associates |work=Just Security |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/81939/timeline-false-alternate-slate-of-electors-scheme-donald-trump-and-his-close-associates/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322224103/https://www.justsecurity.org/81939/timeline-false-alternate-slate-of-electors-scheme-donald-trump-and-his-close-associates/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
On November 7, major news organizations called the election for Biden, and he gave a victory speech that evening.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nagourney |first=Adam |date=November 8, 2020 |title=Five Takeaways From President-Elect Biden's Victory Speech |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/08/us/politics/biden-victory-speech-takeaways.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108063026/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/08/us/politics/biden-victory-speech-takeaways.html |archive-date=2020-11-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Senator [[Mike Lee]] and Meadows exchanged a series of text messages referring to Sidney Powell's alleged interest in pursuing a fake electors plot. On November 8, Lee wrote: "[[Sidney Powell]] is saying that she needs to get in to see the president, but she's being kept away from him. Apparently she has a strategy to keep things alive and put several states back in play. Can you help her get in?" Two days later, he texted Meadows that he found Powell to be "a straight shooter," though he raised doubts about her to Meadows after her November 19 press conference during which she described elaborate conspiracy theories. Lee sent a text to Meadows on December 8 hypothesizing: "If a very small handful of states were to have their legislatures appoint alternative slates of delegates, there could be a path," to which Meadows replied, "I am working on that as of yesterday."<ref>{{cite news |title=Mark Meadows' texts with Mike Lee and Chip Roy |first1=Mark |last1=Meadows |author-link=Mark Meadows |first2=Mike |last2=Lee |author-link2=Mike Lee |first3=Chip |last3=Roy |author-link3=Chip Roy |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/15/politics/read-mark-meadows-texts-mike-lee-chip-roy/index.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=[[CNN]]|date=April 15, 2022 |archive-date=March 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309212920/https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/15/politics/read-mark-meadows-texts-mike-lee-chip-roy/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kessler |first1=Glenn |title=Fact-checking the craziest news conference of the Trump presidency |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/19/fact-checking-craziest-news-conference-trump-presidency/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 19, 2022 |archive-date=November 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121133833/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/19/fact-checking-craziest-news-conference-trump-presidency/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Cleta Mitchell]], who participated in the [[Trump–Raffensperger phone call]] effort to reverse Georgia election results, testified to the [[January 6 committee]] that the alternate elector plot was "actually Mike Lee’s idea," telling Mitchell it would be "the sweet spot" to engage senate Republicans. The committee found that Lee later "expressed grave concerns" about the idea to a top Trump legal advisor as January 6 approached.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Woodruff |first1=Daniel |title=Jan. 6 transcript: Fake elector plot was 'Mike Lee's idea', witness testified |url=https://kutv.com/news/local/january-6-committee-utah-senator-mike-lee-fake-elector-plot-cleta-mitchell-interview-transcript-capitol-attack-presidential-election-results |publisher=[[KUTV]] |date=December 30, 2022}}</ref>
On November 9, [[Ginni Thomas]], wife of Supreme Court Justice [[Clarence Thomas]], emailed 29 Arizona lawmakers, including assembly speaker [[Russell Bowers]] and [[Shawnna Bolick]], encouraging them to pick "a clean slate of Electors" and telling them that the responsibility was "yours and yours alone".<ref name="Brown_6/10//2022">{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Emma |date=June 10, 2022 |title=Ginni Thomas pressed 29 Ariz. lawmakers to help overturn Trump's defeat, emails show |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/06/10/ginni-thomas-election-arizona-lawmakers/ |access-date=June 11, 2022 |archive-date=June 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611164148/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/06/10/ginni-thomas-election-arizona-lawmakers/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
On November 18, attorney [[Kenneth Chesebro]] sent a memo to attorney James Troupis, who represented the Trump campaign in Wisconsin.<ref name="NYT-20230808">{{cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Maggie |last2=Savage |first2=Charlie |last3=Broadwater |first3=Luke |date=August 8, 2023 |title=Previously Secret Memo Laid Out Strategy for Trump to Overturn Biden's Win - The House Jan. 6 committee's investigation did not uncover the memo, whose existence first came to light in last week's indictment. |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/08/us/politics/trump-indictment-fake-electors-memo.html |url-status=live |accessdate=August 10, 2023 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20230809142035/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/08/us/politics/trump-indictment-fake-electors-memo.html |archivedate=August 9, 2023}}</ref> It laid out the general approach of a strategy involving alternate electors. Chesebro also wrote a December 6 memo that outlined a strategy for six states, as well as a December 9 memo, sent to Troupis, that instructed on how to legally appoint alternate electors in Wisconsin and provided the exact format for the false documents they should sign. The memos came to the attention of Giuliani, Eastman and others as a broader strategy unfolded.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Feuer |first1=Alan |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |author-link2=Maggie Haberman |last3=Broadwater |first3=Luke |date=February 2, 2022 |title=Memos Show Roots of Trump's Focus on Jan. 6 and Alternate Electors |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/us/politics/trump-jan-6-memos.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205040732/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/us/politics/trump-jan-6-memos.html |archive-date=February 5, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Jamie |date=February 3, 2022 |title=Leaked Memos Show Trump Lawyers Pushing to Replace State Electors Before Jan. 6 |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/leaked-memos-show-trump-lawyers-pushing-to-replace-state-electors-before-jan-6 |access-date=February 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203103215/https://www.thedailybeast.com/leaked-memos-show-trump-lawyers-pushing-to-replace-state-electors-before-jan-6 |archive-date=February 3, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Costa |first1=Robert |last2=Watson |first2=Kathryn |date=2023-08-09 |title=Newly unveiled memo cited in Trump indictment detailed false electors scheme |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fraudulent-electors-memo-kenneth-chesebro-trump-indictment/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=[[CBS News]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Planning ==
Sometime between late-November and mid-December, the [[White House Counsel|White House Counsel's Office]] reviewed the plans to use alternate electors and deemed them not legally sound.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=April 25, 2022 |title=The two significant new Jan. 6 disclosures from Mark Meadows's aide |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/25/cassidy-hutchinson-mark-meadows/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=April 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426010856/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/25/cassidy-hutchinson-mark-meadows/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto" />
The [[United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack|House select committee on the January 6 attack]] concluded that Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows were involved in the early stages of the plan—as was Donald Trump, who asked on December 7 or 8 for research into whether a fake elector scheme would be possible, according to Trump campaign lawyer Joshua Findlay in his testimony to the committee.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=23 December 2022 |title=Key findings from the Jan. 6 committee's final report |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/jan-6-final-report-findings/ |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223220219/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/jan-6-final-report-findings/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The committee wrote in its final report that Trump was "driving" the "fake elector plan" by December 7 or 8, and that he was collaborating "with Rudolph Giuliani on the plan’s implementation” by December 13 or 14.<ref>{{Cite web |last=House select committee |date=December 22, 2022 |title=Final report |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-REPORT/pdf/GPO-J6-REPORT.pdf |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=GovInfo.gov |page=346}}</ref>
In July 2022, ''Politico'' acquired an email that [[OANN]] anchor [[Christina Bobb]] sent to several Trump attorneys and allies. The email was dated December 13, 2020, the day before electors met across the country to certify their states' election results. It showed a Trump campaign official had spoken with teams around the country focused on the effort to appoint false electors, reported developments back to her, which she then relayed to the email recipients. Those recipients included Giuliani, [[Jenna Ellis]], [[Boris Epshteyn]] and one-time Trump attorneys [[Joe diGenova]] and his wife [[Victoria Toensing]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Woodruff Swan |first=Betsy |date=July 21, 2022 |title=Top Trump lawyers briefed in detail on alternate elector plot on Dec. 13, 2020 |work=[[Politico]] |access-date=March 10, 2023 |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/21/top-trump-lawyers-briefed-on-granular-details-of-alternate-elector-plot-00047107 |archive-date=July 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725194926/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/21/top-trump-lawyers-briefed-on-granular-details-of-alternate-elector-plot-00047107 |url-status=live }}</ref>
''The New York Times'' obtained dozens of emails in July 2022 showing communications about the scheme among Trump associates in December 2020. The emails showed discussions of how to create lists of people who could baselessly claim to be electors in key states Trump had lost. One attorney in the detailed discussions, Jack Wilenchik, described to Epshteyn a strategy of "sending in 'fake' electoral votes to Pence so that 'someone' in Congress can make an objection when they start counting votes, and start arguing that the 'fake' votes should be counted." Wilenchik repeatedly referred to these electors as "fake," later suggesting they be referred to as "alternative," appending a smiley [[emoji]].<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" />
One email informed many of the president's top advisers that naming Trump fake electors in Michigan was not possible due to the state Capitol building being closed due to pandemic restrictions. The emails showed that progress reports on the scheme were routed to Giuliani, and in one case to Meadows. Many of the emails went to Epshteyn, a close Trump advisor who was acting as a coordinator between people in the campaign, the White House and others. Epshteyn was also a regular point of contact for Eastman. The emails showed that Mike Roman played a significant role in finding ways to challenge the election results. Wilenchik wrote of a strategy by Kelli Ward, the Arizona Republican Party chair, "to keep it under wraps until Congress counts the vote Jan. 6th (so we can try to 'surprise' the Dems and media with it) — I tend to agree with her."<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022">{{Cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Maggie |last2=Broadwater |first2=Luke |date=July 26, 2022 |title='Kind of Wild/Creative': Emails Shed Light on Trump Fake Electors Plan |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/us/politics/trump-fake-electors-emails.html |access-date=July 29, 2022 |archive-date=August 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811112427/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/us/politics/trump-fake-electors-emails.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
On December 13, 2020, Robert Sinners, the campaign's election operations director for Georgia, emailed state Republicans planning to cast alternate electors for Trump. Sinners wrote: "Your duties are imperative to ensure the end result{{snd}}a win in Georgia for President Trump{{snd}}but will be hampered unless we have complete secrecy and discretion." The email surfaced in June 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gardner |first1=Amy |last2=Reinhard |first2=Beth |last3=Helderman |first3=Rosalind S. |last4=Alemany |first4=Jacqueline |date=June 6, 2022 |title=Fake Trump electors in Ga. told to shroud plans in 'secrecy,' email shows |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/06/fake-trump-electors-ga-told-shroud-plans-secrecy-email-shows/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607134730/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/06/fake-trump-electors-ga-told-shroud-plans-secrecy-email-shows/ |archive-date=June 7, 2022}}</ref>
== Events in individual states ==
[[File:Oregon Electors 2020.png|thumb| The authentic 2020 [[certificate of ascertainment]] from the state of Oregon]]
On December 14, in accordance with law, the local electors of the electoral college met in each state capital and in the District of Columbia and formalized Biden's victory, with 306 electoral votes cast for Biden and 232 electoral votes cast for Trump.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sherman |first=Mark |date=December 14, 2020 |title=Electoral College makes it official: Biden won, Trump lost |work=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-270-electoral-college-vote-d429ef97af2bf574d16463384dc7cc1e |access-date=June 15, 2022 |archive-date=June 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622003344/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-270-electoral-college-vote-d429ef97af2bf574d16463384dc7cc1e |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Corasaniti |first1=Nick |last2=Rutenberg |first2=Jim |date=December 14, 2020 |title=Electoral College Vote Officially Affirms Biden's Victory |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/us/politics/biden-electoral-college.html |access-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110084230/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/us/politics/biden-electoral-college.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
On the same day that the true electors voted, at the direction of Trump campaign officials, "alternate slates" of Republican electors convened in seven states where Biden had won by a relatively small margin (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania) to sign false certificates of ascertainment.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Zachary |last2=Cohen |first2=Marshall |date=January 12, 2022 |title=Trump allies' fake Electoral College certificates offer fresh insights about plot to overturn Biden's victory |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/politics/trump-overturn-2020-election-fake-electoral-college/index.html |access-date=January 16, 2022 |archive-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113003417/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/politics/trump-overturn-2020-election-fake-electoral-college/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This was ostensibly in case ''[[Texas v. Pennsylvania]]'' was ruled in favor of Trump. However, that case was thrown out on December 11, 2020, three days before the electoral vote was to occur, a fact that was withheld from most of the fake electors by Giuliani and Chesebro.<ref name=":03">{{Cite news |last1=Pilkington |first1=Ed |last2=Levine |first2=Sam |date=2023-08-05 |title=Inside Trump's 'alternate electors' plot to steal the vote in Georgia |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/05/trump-fake-electors-georgia |access-date=2023-09-07 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In each case the false electors signed a facsimile of an Electoral College certificate of ascertainment, proclaiming Trump and Pence the victors, and sent it to the National Archives and to Congress.<ref name="Cohen">{{Cite news |last=Hansen |first=Ronald J. |date=December 14, 2020 |title=Fake electors try to deliver Arizona's 11 votes for Trump |work=[[The Arizona Republic]] |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/12/14/arizona-groups-fake-electors-try-cast-11-electoral-votes-trump/6536056002/ |url-status=live |access-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115182619/https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/12/14/arizona-groups-fake-electors-try-cast-11-electoral-votes-trump/6536056002/ |archive-date=January 15, 2021}}</ref>
The alternate elector certificates for Pennsylvania and New Mexico contained language indicating they would take effect only if the Trump campaign's challenges to the election results were sustained by the courts; but "alternate" certificates from the other five states contained no indication that they were not genuine. These self-proclaimed electors have no legal standing, and the National Archives did not accept their documents, publishing the official (Biden) results from those states as the result of the election.<ref name="CheneyWu">{{Cite news |last1=Cheney |first1=K. |last2=Wu |date=January 21, 2022 |title='Dangerous precedent': Jan. 6 committee trains its sights on false pro-Trump electors |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/21/january-6-committee-precedent-pro-trump-electors-527528 |url-status=live |access-date=February 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217013841/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/21/january-6-committee-precedent-pro-trump-electors-527528 |archive-date=February 17, 2022}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Corasaniti |first1=Nick |last2=Rutenberg |first2=Jim |date=December 15, 2020 |title=No, there aren't 'alternate electors' who can vote for President Trump. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/technology/fake-dueling-slates-of-electors.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107185731/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/technology/fake-dueling-slates-of-electors.html |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |access-date=June 15, 2022 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name="oversight" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=July 26, 2022 |title=An intriguing new detail on Trump's 'fake' electors |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/26/trump-fake-electors-arizona/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813134140/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/26/trump-fake-electors-arizona/ |archive-date=August 13, 2022}}</ref>
=== Arizona ===
In Arizona, the fake electors met on December 14, 2020, at the state Republican Party headquarters.<ref name=":2" /> The Arizona falsified electoral documents were produced and sent by a group that claimed to represent the "sovereign citizens of the Great State of Arizona".<ref name="Cohen" /> The document made in Arizona had a facsimile of the state seal.<ref name="NicholasWu2022" /> The [[Arizona Republican Party]] then posted on its Twitter account a video of party members signing the certificates, and issued a press release.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Ruelas |first=Richard |date=February 2, 2022 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |title=Head of Arizona Republican Party fights Jan. 6 committee subpoena for cellphone records |work=[[The Arizona Republic]] |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2022/02/02/arizona-gop-chair-kelli-ward-fights-jan-6-committee-subpoena-phone-records/6642838001/ |archive-date=February 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205204057/https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2022/02/02/arizona-gop-chair-kelli-ward-fights-jan-6-committee-subpoena-phone-records/6642838001/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Georgia ===
{{Further|Georgia election racketeering prosecution#Creation of false electoral vote documents}}
The 16 potential electors for Trump in Georgia were chosen before the election, as is typical. After Biden won the election, and days before the scheduled casting of electoral votes, the Republican electors received calls asking them to come to the Capitol to cast "alternate" (fake) ballots. Four members of the Republican electoral slate declined to participate, including former U.S. Senator [[Johnny Isakson]], and were replaced.<ref name=":03" />
Georgia fake electors convened in a meeting room at the [[Georgia State Capitol]] at the same time the true electors were meeting in the Senate chamber. Unlike in some other states, one case, [[Post-election lawsuits related to the 2020 United States presidential election from Georgia#Trump v. Raffensperger|''Trump v. Raffensperger'']], was still pending at the time. The falsified documents were then sent to the U.S. Senate and the National Archives by Giuliani and Chesebro's team.<ref name=":03" />
=== Michigan ===
{{Further|Michigan prosecution of fake electors#Attempt to falsify electoral votes}}
{{External media|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NgLQxMV9c Republicans try to deliver their own electoral votes to Michigan Capitol—Detroit Free Press]|float=right}}The Michigan fake electors met in the basement of the state Republican Party headquarters on December 14, 2020,<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Schneider |first=Joe |date=2023-07-18 |title=Michigan Charges Fake Trump Electors With Scheme to Swing 2020 |language=en |work=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]] |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-18/michigan-charges-trump-backing-fake-2020-electors-with-forgery |access-date=2023-08-29}}</ref> after [[Michigan Republican Party]] chair [[Laura Cox (politician)|Laura Cox]] successfully opposed a plan to have the false electors hide overnight in the [[Michigan State Capitol]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last1=Gardner |first1=Amy |last2=Marley |first2=Patrick |last3=Sanchez |first3=Yvonne Wingett |last4=Dawsey |first4=Josh |date=2023-08-08 |title='Fake' elector plot raised concerns over legal peril, indictment shows |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/07/fake-electors-trump-indictment/ |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> They produced and signed multiple documents falsely stating they were the duly elected and qualified electors in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and containing electoral votes for Donald Trump.<ref name=":02" /> The documents were then sent to the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] and [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]],<ref name=":02" /> as well as the [[Office of the Federal Register]], Michigan Secretary of State [[Jocelyn Benson]], and the federal [[United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan|U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Eggert |first=David |date=January 14, 2022 |title=Michigan AG asks feds to investigate fake GOP electors |work=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michigan-elections-electoral-college-criminal-investigations-8a0454f0a28fd3f5903fa3ab962f764b |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115001640/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michigan-elections-electoral-college-criminal-investigations-8a0454f0a28fd3f5903fa3ab962f764b |archive-date=January 15, 2022}}</ref>
Four defendants later that day attempted to enter the Michigan State Capitol with State Representative [[Daire Rendon]], appearing to present the falsified certificate to gain entry into the building and claiming to be true electors, but they were turned away by the [[Michigan State Police]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last1=Mauger |first1=Craig |last2=LeBlanc |first2=Beth |date=2023-07-18 |title=16 false Trump electors face felony charges in Michigan |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/michigan/2023/07/18/michigan-donald-trump-fake-electors-charged-felonies-attorney-general-dana-nessel/70427042007/ |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=[[The Detroit News]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":32">{{Cite web |last=Villarreal |first=Daniel |date=2020-12-15 |title=Michigan Republicans Tried to Submit Fake Electoral Votes to Capitol |url=https://www.newsweek.com/michigan-republicans-tried-submit-fake-electoral-votes-capitol-1555028 |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=[[Newsweek]]|language=en}}</ref>
===Nevada===
On December 6, 2023, a [[Clark County, Nevada]] grand jury indicted six Republican party officials, including the chair of the Nevada Republican Party, on two felony charges each of submitting fraudulent documents to state and local officials.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mueller |first1=Tabitha |date=December 6, 2023 |title=Nevada GOP ‘fake electors’ indicted for falsely claiming Trump won state’s 2020 election |work=The Nevada Independent |url=https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/nevada-gop-fake-electors-indicted-for-falsely-claiming-trump-won-states-2020-election}}</ref>
=== Pennsylvania ===
The Trump campaign initially resisted that qualifying language including not contesting the popular vote in Pennsylvania
itself, but ultimately acquiesced to its inclusion.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{cite news |author1=Amy Gardner |author2=Patrick Marley |author3=Yvonne Wingett Sanchez |author4=Josh Dawsey |date=August 7, 2023 |title='Fake' elector plot raised concerns over legal peril, indictment shows |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/07/fake-electors-trump-indictment/}}</ref>{{Clarify|date=December 2023}}
===Wisconsin===
In Wisconsin, one of the ten fake electors was Robert F. Spindell, a member of the six-person [[Wisconsin Elections Commission]]. Spindell was appointed to the commission by Wisconsin Senate majority leader [[Devin LeMahieu]]; subsequent to the fake elector plot, LeMahieu reappointed Spindell to another six-year term.
In May 2022, a civil lawsuit was filed against Wisconsin's 10 fake electors and two attorneys who collaborated with them.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.wpr.org/democrats-file-lawsuit-against-wisconsin-republicans-who-posed-electors |title= Democrats file lawsuit against Wisconsin Republicans who posed as electors |first= Shawn |last= Johnson |work= [[Wisconsin Public Radio]] |date= May 17, 2022 |accessdate= December 12, 2023 }}</ref> After more than a year of discovery and filings, the 10 fake electors, including Spindell, agreed to a partial settlement of the case in December 2023. They acknowledged that their actions were "part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results."<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.wpr.org/wisconsin-false-electors-admit-improperly-overturn-2020-presidential-election-trump |title= Wisconsin false electors admit their actions were used in effort to 'improperly overturn' the 2020 election |first= Anya |last= van Wagtendonk |date= December 6, 2023 |work= [[Wisconsin Public Radio]] |accessdate= December 12, 2023 }}</ref> They further stated: "We hereby reaffirm that Joseph R. Biden Jr. won the 2020 presidential election and that we were not the duly elected presidential electors for the State of Wisconsin for the 2020 presidential election. We oppose any attempt to undermine the public's faith in the ultimate results of the 2020 presidential election." This settlement represented the first time that fake electors anywhere in the country had formally repudiated their electoral claims.<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2023/12/06/wisconsins-fake-electors-settle-lawsuit-acknowledge-biden-won-in-2020/ |title= Wisconsin’s fake electors settle lawsuit, acknowledge Biden won in 2020 |first= Henry |last= Redman |date= December 6, 2023 |work= [[Wisconsin Examiner]] |accessdate= December 12, 2023 }}</ref>
After Spindell acknowledged his part in filing fraudulent paperwork, the Wisconsin Secretary of State, [[Sarah Godlewski]]—in her capacity as the current holder of the office which had received that false paperwork—demanded that Spindell be removed from his seat on the Wisconsin Elections Commission by LeMahieu. LeMahieu, however, reiterated his support for Spindell.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-fake-electors-trump-3431e690e5fef23c0f2cdfaa4257ecb6 |title= Wisconsin Republican leader stands by fake Trump elector, will keep him on elections commission |first= Scott |last= Bauer |date= December 11, 2023 |work= [[Associated Press]] |accessdate= December 12, 2023 }}</ref>
Also in December 2023, CNN reported that Kenneth Chesebro, who was also a defendant in the previously-mentioned civil suit, was cooperating with officials in Wisconsin, the first indication that a formal investigation was underway in the state.<ref>{{cite news |title=Exclusive: Pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro cooperating in multiple state probes into 2020 fake electors plot |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/08/politics/kenneth-chesebro-cooperating-multiple-investigations/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=December 8, 2023|author1=Zachary Cohen|author2=Marshall Cohen}}</ref>
== Later developments ==
[[File:2020 presidential election US electoral college certificates.jpg|thumb|Boxes containing authentic electoral certificates of the 2020 U.S. presidential election]]The "alternate slates" were part of the White House plan for contesting the election. As Trump advisor [[Stephen Miller (political advisor)|Stephen Miller]] described on television on December 14,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Durkee |first=Alison |date=December 14, 2020 |title=Group Claiming To Be Michigan GOP Electors Locked Out of Capitol, Police Used To Bar Entrance |work=[[Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/12/14/trump-campaign-assembling-alternate-electors-in-key-states-in-far-fetched-attempt-to-overturn-election/ |access-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110135338/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/12/14/trump-campaign-assembling-alternate-electors-in-key-states-in-far-fetched-attempt-to-overturn-election/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the alternate electors were intended to replace those electors certified by their respective states based on election results. The strategy was explicitly spelled out in the [[Eastman memos|John Eastman memo]]: the existence of "competing" slates of electors was intended to provide justification for Congress to disallow the results from the seven states.<ref name="Cohen" /> All of the alternate elector certificates were prepared with similar language, formatting, and fonts, as reported,<ref name="CheneyWu" /><ref>{{Cite press release |date=January 12, 2022 |title=Fake Electoral Certificates Obtained by American Oversight Draw Renewed Scrutiny |url=https://www.americanoversight.org/fake-electoral-certificates-obtained-by-american-oversight-draw-renewed-scrutiny |access-date=February 17, 2022 |website=American Oversight}}</ref> thus indicating that the state actions were coordinated. ''The Washington Post'' and CNN reported in January 2022 that Giuliani led Trump campaign officials in coordinating the plan across the seven states.
Chesebro and Troupis met with Trump in the Oval Office on December 16. Troupis told the president that his chances of winning Wisconsin were over, but Chesebro said the fake electors gathered in Arizona and six other states still gave Trump an opening to continue challenging the results.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Marshall |title=Exclusive: Recordings describe 2020 Oval Office photo-op where Trump was briefed on fake electors and January 6 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/13/politics/trump-2020-oval-office-fake-electors-recordings/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=December 13, 2023}}</ref>
Trump ally Boris Epshteyn and others asserted creating alternate certificates of ascertainment was a contingency similar to the 1960 presidential election, in which two slates of electors were prepared pending results of a late recount of ballots in Hawaii. Both parties agreed to that recount, which ultimately resulted in [[John F. Kennedy]] winning the state, though the outcome of the election did not hinge on the Hawaii results. By contrast, in the case of the 2020 election, the stated need for slates of alternate electors in multiple states was predicated on persistent false claims of nationwide election fraud. Other important differences include the fact that the 1960 Hawaiian Democratic elector slate was certified by the state's Republican governor, while none of the Trump alternate elector slates were endorsed by their respective states' governors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kilgore |first1=Ed |title=The Flimsy Nixon Precedent Trump Is Seizing On to Contest Biden's Win |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/the-nixon-precedent-trump-will-cite-to-contest-bidens-win.html |website=[[New York (magazine)|New York Intelligencer]] |language=en-us |date=29 December 2020}}</ref> Epshteyn asserted the slates of alternate electors were not fraudulent and "it is not against the law, it is according to the law." He was among the members of a Trump team present in a [[Willard Hotel]] "command center" that sought to prevent Pence from certifying Biden's election on January 6.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Reinhard |first1=Beth |last2=Gardner |first2=Amy |last3=Dawsey |first3=Josh |last4=Brown |first4=Emma |last5=Helderman |first5=Rosalind S. |date=January 20, 2021 |title=As Giuliani coordinated plan for Trump electoral votes in states Biden won, some electors balked |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/electors-giuliani-trump-electoral-college/2022/01/20/687e3698-7587-11ec-8b0a-bcfab800c430_story.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121151123/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/electors-giuliani-trump-electoral-college/2022/01/20/687e3698-7587-11ec-8b0a-bcfab800c430_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Vaillancourt |first=William |date=January 21, 2022 |title=Giuliani Pal Fesses Up to Scheme to Seat Trump Electors |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/giuliani-pal-boris-epshteyn-fesses-up-to-scheme-to-seat-trump-electors |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327130528/https://www.thedailybeast.com/giuliani-pal-boris-epshteyn-fesses-up-to-scheme-to-seat-trump-electors |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Griffing |first=Alex |date=January 21, 2022 |title=Boris Epshteyn Says Effort to Swap in Pro-Trump Electors Was 'Done Under the Leadership of Rudy Giuliani' |work=[[Mediaite]] |url=https://www.mediaite.com/news/boris-epshteyn-says-effort-to-swap-in-pro-trump-electors-was-done-under-the-leadership-of-rudy-giuliani/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327130530/https://www.mediaite.com/news/boris-epshteyn-says-effort-to-swap-in-pro-trump-electors-was-done-under-the-leadership-of-rudy-giuliani/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
''Politico'' reported in July 2022 that [[Mike Roman]], Trump's 2020 director of election day operations, delivered the fraudulent certificates to Matt Stroia, the then-chief of staff for congressman [[Mike Kelly (Pennsylvania politician)|Mike Kelly]]. Stroia then directed a colleague to distribute copies on Capitol Hill. Kelly said Stroia had received the certificates but denied any involvement of his office in their distribution. Kelly was a Trump ally in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. The January 6 committee disclosed during a June 2022 hearing that Sean Riley, chief of staff to senator [[Ron Johnson]], attempted to [[Public hearings of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack#Sean Riley "alternate electors" plan for Wisconsin and Michigan|pass fraudulent elector certificates to a top Pence aide]] minutes before the vice president was to certify the election results, but was rebuffed. Johnson said his office received the certificates from Kelly's office and that his personal involvement lasted "a couple seconds."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kyle Cheney |last2=Nicholas Wu |date=July 15, 2022 |title=Trump campaign operative who delivered Jan. 6 false elector lists is identified |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/15/jan-6-trump-operative-false-electors-00046175 |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313093938/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/15/jan-6-trump-operative-false-electors-00046175 |archive-date=March 13, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Nicholas Wu |last2=Kyle Cheney |date=June 21, 2022 |title=Ron Johnson tried to hand fake elector info to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, panel reveals |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/21/jan-6-panel-trump-overturn-2020-election-00040816 |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314210041/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/21/jan-6-panel-trump-overturn-2020-election-00040816 |archive-date=March 14, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Naughtie |first1=Andrew |title=GOP Senator Ron Johnson says his involvement in Jan 6 fake electors plan lasted ‘a couple seconds’ |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ron-johnson-jan-6-fake-electors-b2150125.html |work=The Independent |date=August 22, 2022}}</ref>
On December 22, [[Ivan Raiklin]], an associate of [[Michael Flynn]] and a former special forces officer who presented himself as a constitutional attorney, tweeted to Trump a two-page memo entitled, "Operation [[Pence Card]]," describing how the vice president might reject electors from states Biden won and in which Trump alleged fraud. Trump retweeted the Raiklin tweet.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ram Roston |last2=Brad Heath |last3=John Shiffman |last4=Peter Eisler |date=December 15, 2021 |title=The military-intelligence veterans who helped lead Trump's campaign of disinformation |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-military/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218203057/https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-military/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[Jeffrey Clark]], the [[United States Assistant Attorney General|Assistant Attorney General]] for the [[United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division|Environment and Natural Resources Division]], was introduced to Trump by Republican congressman [[Scott Perry (politician)|Scott Perry]]. Clark and Perry discussed a plan for Clark to draft a letter to Georgia officials stating the DOJ had "identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States," urging the Georgia legislature to convene a special session for the "purpose of considering issues pertaining to the appointment of Presidential Electors." Clark presented the draft letter on December 28 to acting Attorney General [[Jeffrey A. Rosen|Jeffrey Rosen]] and his deputy [[Richard Donoghue]] for their signatures; they rejected the proposal and the letter was never sent.{{efn|name="multiple"}}
Rosen and Donoghue also resisted pressure from Trump to announce the DOJ had found election fraud; attorney general [[Bill Barr]] had resigned days earlier after announcing that no election fraud of consequence had been found, telling Trump that allegations he and his associates espoused were "bullshit." Rosen and Donoghue declined Trump's request to "Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen," according to notes Donoghue took during a phone call with the president. The continuing resistance culminated in an Oval Office meeting during which Trump proposed replacing Rosen with Clark, which was abandoned when Rosen advised the president that the proposal would trigger mass resignations at the DOJ.{{efn|name="multiple"|Multiple sources:<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 1, 2020 |first=Michael |last=Balsamo |title=Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud |url=https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d |access-date=June 15, 2022 |website=[[Associated Press]] |archive-date=December 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207191752/https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Benner |first1=Katie |last2=Edmondson |first2=Catie |date=January 24, 2021 |title=Pennsylvania Lawmaker Played Key Role in Trump's Plot to Oust Acting Attorney General |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/us/politics/scott-perry-trump-justice-department-election.html |access-date=January 24, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630042400/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/us/politics/scott-perry-trump-justice-department-election.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-rosen-election-calls/2021/07/28/43106ab6-efd6-11eb-bf80-e3877d9c5f06_story.html |title=As Trump pushed for probes of 2020 election, he called acting AG Rosen almost daily |last1=Dawsey |first1=Josh |last2=Barrett |first2=Devlin |date=July 28, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=July 30, 2021 |archive-date=July 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729221414/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-rosen-election-calls/2021/07/28/43106ab6-efd6-11eb-bf80-e3877d9c5f06_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/08/trump-doj-official-urged-acting-ag-pressure-georgia-election/5531371001/ |title=Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark pushed acting AG to interfere in Georgia election: report |last=Brown |first=Matthew |date=August 8, 2021 |work=[[USA Today]] |access-date=August 10, 2021 |archive-date=August 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811022651/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/08/trump-doj-official-urged-acting-ag-pressure-georgia-election/5531371001/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Bullshit': Hear what Barr told Trump about election fraud claims |url=https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2022/06/10/barr-trump-election-bullshit-2022-january-6-hearings-sot-vpx.cnn |work=[[CNN]] |date=June 10, 2022 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406182028/https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2022/06/10/barr-trump-election-bullshit-2022-january-6-hearings-sot-vpx.cnn |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kranish |first1=Michael |title=Inside the explosive Oval Office confrontation three days before Jan. 6 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/14/inside-explosive-oval-office-confrontation-three-days-before-jan-6/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 14, 2022 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331050434/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/14/inside-explosive-oval-office-confrontation-three-days-before-jan-6/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Herb |first1=Jeremy |title=Trump to DOJ last December: 'Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me' |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/30/politics/trump-election-justice/index.html |work=[[CNN]] |date=July 31, 2021 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323124304/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/30/politics/trump-election-justice/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
ABC News chief Washington correspondent [[Jonathan Karl]] reported that on New Year's Eve 2020, White House chief of staff [[Mark Meadows]] sent a memo drafted by Trump attorney Jenna Ellis to a top Pence aide containing a detailed plan to overturn the election results. The plan entailed Pence returning the electoral results to six battleground states on January 6, with a deadline of January 15 for the states to return them. If any state did not return their electoral slate by that date, neither Trump nor Biden would hold a majority, so the election would be thrown to the House for a vote to determine the winner. Per the Constitution, in such a scenario the vote would be conducted on the basis of party control of state delegations to the federal House of Representatives, with Republicans holding 26 of 50, presumably giving Trump the victory.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cathey |first=Libby |date=November 14, 2021 |title=Memo from Trump attorney outlined how Pence could overturn election, says new book |work=[[ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/memo-trump-attorney-outlined-pence-overturn-election-book/story?id=81134003 |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114180719/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/memo-trump-attorney-outlined-pence-overturn-election-book/story?id=81134003 |archive-date=November 14, 2021}}</ref>
On January 2, 2021, Trump, Giuliani, Eastman and others held a conference call with some 300 legislators of key states to provide them purported evidence of election fraud to justify calling special sessions of their legislatures in an attempt to decertify their slates of Biden electors. Three days later, dozens of lawmakers from five key states wrote Pence to ask him to delay the January 6 final certification of electors for ten days to allow legislators the opportunity to reconsider their states' certifications.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Jacqueline Alemany |last2=Emma Brown |last3=Tom Hamburger |last4=Jon Swaine |date=October 23, 2021 |title=Ahead of Jan. 6, Willard hotel in downtown D.C. was a Trump team 'command center' for effort to deny Biden the presidency |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/willard-trump-eastman-giuliani-bannon/2021/10/23/c45bd2d4-3281-11ec-9241-aad8e48f01ff_story.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026024450/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/willard-trump-eastman-giuliani-bannon/2021/10/23/c45bd2d4-3281-11ec-9241-aad8e48f01ff_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
On January 5, congressman [[Jim Jordan]] forwarded to Meadows a text message he had received from [[Joseph E. Schmitz|Joseph Schmitz]], a Trump 2016 campaign foreign policy advisor. Schmitz wrote that on January 6 Pence "should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all." Schmitz was previously a [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]] Pentagon inspector general and a [[Blackwater (company)|Blackwater]] executive.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nobles |first1=Ryan |last2=Cohen |first2=Zachary |date=December 16, 2022 |title=Jim Jordan sent one of the texts revealed by January 6 committee |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/15/politics/jim-jordan-mark-meadows-text/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327125638/https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/15/politics/jim-jordan-mark-meadows-text/ |archive-date=March 27, 2023}}</ref>
Trump falsely insisted that Pence had the authority to reject Electoral College results, but Pence told the president on January 5, 2021 that he did not believe he did. While the January 6 attack was in progress, Trump tweeted:
<blockquote>Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!</blockquote>
Some in the crowd began chanting "hang Mike Pence!". Former White House aide [[Cassidy Hutchinson]] testified to the January 6 committee that Trump indicated his approval of the chant. After the attackers were expelled from the Capitol, Pence counted the authentic certificates to certify Biden's victory.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schmidt |first1=Michael S. |title=Trump Says Pence Can Overturn His Loss in Congress. That’s Not How It Works. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/us/politics/pence-trump-election.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 5, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Pence Said to Have Told Trump He Lacks Power to Change Election Result |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/us/politics/pence-trump-election-results.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 5, 2021|author1=Maggie Haberman|author2=Annie Karni}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Trump reacted with approval to ‘hang Mike Pence’ chants from rioters on January 6 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/25/politics/donald-trump-january-6-mike-pence-chants/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=May 26, 2022|author1=Jim Acosta|author2=Paula Reid}}</ref>
== Investigations ==
Despite assumptions about Eastman's role, the January 6 committee's final report, which was released on December 22, 2022, named lesser known lawyer [[Kenneth Chesebro]] as the plot's original proponent.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 23, 2022 |title=Highlights from the Jan. 6 committee's final report on the Capitol attack |work=[[NBC News]] |first=Scott |last=Wong |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jan-6-committee-unveils-final-report-capping-18-month-probe-rcna62629 |access-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223073515/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jan-6-committee-unveils-final-report-capping-18-month-probe-rcna62629 |url-status=live }}</ref> Chesebro pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the [[Georgia election racketeering prosecution]] and by December 2023 was cooperating with similar investigations in at least four other states.<ref>{{cite news |title=Exclusive: Pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro cooperating in multiple state probes into 2020 fake electors plot |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/08/politics/kenneth-chesebro-cooperating-multiple-investigations/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=December 8, 2023|author1=Zachary Cohen|author2=Marshall Cohen}}</ref>
In early 2021, the watchdog group American Oversight obtained copies of the false documents from the National Archives via a [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information]] request; they published them on their website in March 2021.<ref name="oversight">{{Cite press release |date=March 2, 2021 |title=American Oversight Obtains Seven Phony Certificates of Pro-Trump Electors |url=https://www.americanoversight.org/american-oversight-obtains-seven-phony-certificates-of-pro-trump-electors |access-date=January 16, 2022 |website=American Oversight}}</ref> However, the documents were largely overlooked until the story was reported by ''[[Politico]]'' reporter Nicholas Wu in January 2022.<ref name="NicholasWu2022">{{Cite news |last=Wu |first=Nicholas |date=January 10, 2022 |title=Jan. 6 panel ramps up investigation into Trump's state-level pressure |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/10/jan-6-committee-ramps-up-state-level-investigation-526752 |access-date=January 16, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111135335/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/10/jan-6-committee-ramps-up-state-level-investigation-526752 |url-status=live }}</ref> Michigan attorney general [[Dana Nessel]] announced in January 2022 that after a months-long investigation into the Michigan certificate she had asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation, closing the Michigan investigation. Deputy attorney general [[Lisa Monaco]] days later confirmed the Justice Department was examining the matter. Nessel announced in January 2023 that she was reopening her investigation "because I don't know what the federal government plans to do."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eggert |first=David |date=January 14, 2022 |title=Michigan AG asks feds to investigate fake GOP electors |work=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michigan-elections-electoral-college-criminal-investigations-8a0454f0a28fd3f5903fa3ab962f764b |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115001640/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michigan-elections-electoral-college-criminal-investigations-8a0454f0a28fd3f5903fa3ab962f764b |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Perez |first1=Evan |last2=Sneed |first2=Tierney |date=January 25, 2022 |title=Exclusive: Federal prosecutors looking at 2020 fake elector certifications, deputy attorney general tells CNN |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/politics/fake-trump-electoral-certificates-justice-department/index.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=January 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127054539/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/politics/fake-trump-electoral-certificates-justice-department/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Boucher |first1=Dave |title=Nessel reopens criminal probe of GOP 'fake electors' after no word from feds |url=https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/06/nessel-gop-fake-electors-investigation/69785142007/ |work=[[Detroit Free Press]] |date=June 3, 2022 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=February 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216015207/https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/06/nessel-gop-fake-electors-investigation/69785142007/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In January 2022, the [[Pennsylvania Attorney General]]’s office said that the conditional statement on the documents caused them not to meet the standards of forgery. However, the [[Attorney General of New Mexico|New Mexico Attorney General]] referred the matter to federal prosecutors, even though their documents had a similar conditional statement.<ref name="CheneyWu" />
On June 22, 2022, the Justice Department issued subpoenas to [[Georgia Republican Party]] chair David Shafer and another party official who allegedly signed a document claiming to be Trump electors, and to a Virginia man who worked on the Trump campaign's efforts in Arizona and New Mexico. Other alleged false Trump electors in Michigan also received subpoenas, though it was not clear whether they were federal or state; Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel had also been investigating the fraudulent elector scheme.{{efn|name="washingtonpost.com"|Multiple sources:<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Spencer S. Hsu |last2=Josh Dawsey |last3=Devlin Barrett |date=June 22, 2022 |title=Jan. 6 probe expands with fresh subpoenas in multiple states |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/22/jan6-fbi-electors-subpoenas/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=June 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622195009/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/22/jan6-fbi-electors-subpoenas/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Charns |first1=David |title=I-Team sources: FBI seizes Nevada GOP chairman's phone as part of fake elector investigation |url=https://www.8newsnow.com/i-team/i-team-sources-fbi-seizes-nevada-gop-chairmans-phone-as-part-of-fake-elector-investigation/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920054243/https://www.8newsnow.com/investigators/i-team-sources-fbi-seizes-nevada-gop-chairmans-phone-as-part-of-fake-elector-investigation/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |url-status=live |date=June 22, 2022 |work=[[KLAS-TV]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Justice Dept. Issues More Subpoenas in Trump Electors Investigation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/us/politics/justice-dept-jan-6-subpoenas.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 22, 2022 |first1=Alan |last1=Feuer |first2=Maggie |last2=Haberman |author-link2=Maggie Haberman |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=June 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629044929/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/us/politics/justice-dept-jan-6-subpoenas.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wereschagin |first1=Mike |title=FBI interviews Allegheny County GOP chair Sam DeMarco about Trump's attempt to plant fake electors |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-local/2022/06/23/allegheny-county-republican-gop-chairman-sam-demarco-council-jan-6-election-overturn-fbi-subpoena-fake-electors/stories/202206230120 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=June 23, 2022 |archive-date=June 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626065946/https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-local/2022/06/23/allegheny-county-republican-gop-chairman-sam-demarco-council-jan-6-election-overturn-fbi-subpoena-fake-electors/stories/202206230120 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=DOJ searches home of former official who aided alleged pro-Trump 'coup' |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/23/law-enforcement-trump-official-coup-00041767 |work=[[Politico]] |date=June 23, 2022 |first1=Betsy Woodruff |last1=Swan |first2=Josh |last2=Gerstein |first3=Kyle |last3=Cheney |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627235512/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/23/law-enforcement-trump-official-coup-00041767 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
The [[FBI]] also served a search warrant on [[Nevada Republican Party]] chair Michael McDonald, and sought to serve a warrant on party secretary James DeGraffenreid; both men had signed a fraudulent certificate of ascertainment. FBI agents interviewed Sam DeMarco, chair of the [[Allegheny County, Pennsylvania]] Republican party, at his home the next day. ''Politico'' reported concurrently that Arizona Republican chair [[Kelli Ward]] and her husband had also been subpoenaed, but did not specify when.{{efn|name="washingtonpost.com"}} By July 2022, [[Fulton County, Georgia]] district attorney [[Fani Willis]] had notified sixteen Republicans that they were "targets" of her criminal investigation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cheney |first=Kyle |date=July 19, 2022 |title=False Georgia electors are deemed targets of DA criminal probe |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/19/false-georgia-electors-da-probe-00046593 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322223031/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/19/false-georgia-electors-da-probe-00046593 |url-status=live }}</ref>
During its fourth public hearing, the January 6 committee presented a video excerpt of a deposition from [[Republican National Committee]] chair [[Ronna McDaniel]]. She revealed that Trump was fully aware of the fake electors plan,<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" /> as he and Eastman had called her to enlist the committee's assistance to "gather these contingent electors, in case any of the legal challenges that were ongoing changed the result of any of the states."<ref name="Breuninger_6/22/2022">{{Cite web |last=Breuninger |first=Kevin |date=June 22, 2022 |title=Trump had a direct role in plan to install fake electors. Key takeaways from the fourth Jan. 6 hearing |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/22/jan-6-probe-takeaways-trump-had-a-direct-role-in-plan-to-install-fake-electors.html |access-date=July 29, 2022 |website=[[CNBC]] |archive-date=June 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622151510/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/22/jan-6-probe-takeaways-trump-had-a-direct-role-in-plan-to-install-fake-electors.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The committee also heard testimony from [[Greg Jacob]], counsel for Mike Pence, "that Mr. Eastman admitted in the Jan. 4 Oval Office {{nowrap|meeting{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{px2}}}}with Mr. Trump {{nowrap|present{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{px2}}}}that his plan to have Mr. Pence obstruct the electoral certification violated the Electoral Count Act."<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" />
''The Washington Post'' reported on July 26, 2022, that the Justice Department was examining Trump's role. Prosecutors had asked grand jury witnesses hours of detailed questions about conversations between Trump, his attorneys and others about the scheme. Pence's former chief of staff [[Marc Short]] and counsel Greg Jacob, who had advised Pence to reject Eastman's Pence Card scheme, had testified before the grand jury.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Carol D. Leonnig |last2=Devlin Barrett |last3=Josh Dawsey |last4=Spencer S. Hsu |date=July 26, 2022 |title=Justice Dept. investigating Trump's actions in Jan. 6 criminal probe |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/26/trump-justice-investigation-january-6/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804133342/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/26/trump-justice-investigation-january-6/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Smith special counsel investigation]], established in November 2022, examined the fake electors scheme,<ref>{{cite news |title=Jack Smith, Special Counsel for Trump Inquiries, Steps Up the Pace |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/us/politics/jack-smith-special-counsel-trump-investigations.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 12, 2023 |first1=Maggie |last1=Haberman |first2=Glenn |last2=Thrush |first3=Alan |last3=Feuer |archive-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310035041/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/us/politics/jack-smith-special-counsel-trump-investigations.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 2023 at least two fake electors testified before the grand jury in exchange for limited immunity.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Polantz |first1=Katelyn |last2=Murray |first2=Sara |last3=Cohen |first3=Zachary |last4=Gannon |first4=Casey |date=2023-06-23 |title=Exclusive: Special counsel trades immunity for fake elector testimony as Jan 6 probe heats up |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/politics/special-counsel-fake-electors-immunity-testimony-jan-6/index.html |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=[[CNN]] Politics |language=en |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623165851/https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/politics/special-counsel-fake-electors-immunity-testimony-jan-6/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The [[Arizona Attorney General]] sent a [[cease and desist]] letter to the group representing the fake electors on the illegal use of the state seal.<ref name="NicholasWu2022" /> By May 2023, Arizona Attorney General [[Kris Mayes]] was ramping up a criminal investigation into the signing and transmission of false certificates of ascertainment.<ref>{{cite news |author=Yvonne Wingett Sanchez |date=July 13, 2023 |title=Arizona escalates probe into alleged efforts to swing election for Trump |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/13/investigation-2020-election-results-arizona-trump/}}</ref> By this time, at least eight of the sixteen Republicans who allegedly participated in the Georgia scheme had accepted immunity deals to cooperate with Fani Willis in [[2020 Georgia election investigation|her investigation]].<ref name=":2" />
CNN reported in June 2023 that Roman had entered into a [[proffer agreement]] with the [[Smith special counsel investigation]].<ref>{{cite news |author1=Zachary Cohen |author2=Kaitlin Collins |date=June 29, 2023 |title=Former Trump campaign official cooperating with special counsel in 2020 election interference probe |publisher=[[CNN]]|url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/politics/mike-roman-trump-campaign-cooperate-special-counsel-probe/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630002635/https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/politics/mike-roman-trump-campaign-cooperate-special-counsel-probe/index.html |archive-date=June 30, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Alan Feuer |author2=Maggie Haberman |date=June 23, 2023 |title=Former Trump Campaign Official in Talks to Cooperate in Jan. 6 Inquiry |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/us/politics/michael-roman-trump-jan-6-jack-smith.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623231344/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/us/politics/michael-roman-trump-jan-6-jack-smith.html |archive-date=June 23, 2023}}</ref>
By August 2023, local authorities in Pennsylvania and New Mexico were investigating electors.<ref name=":3" />
== Prosecutions ==
{{Main|Georgia election racketeering prosecution|Michigan prosecution of fake electors|Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (election obstruction case)}}
Michigan Attorney General [[Dana Nessel]] announced on July 18, 2023, that she had [[Michigan prosecution of fake electors|charged sixteen individuals with eight felony counts each]], including forgery and conspiracy, alleging they had knowingly signed certificates of ascertainment falsely claiming they were "duly elected and qualified electors" for Michigan.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Timm |first1=Jane C. |title=Michigan attorney general charges 'false electors' over efforts to overturn the 2020 election |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/michigan-attorney-general-charges-false-electors-efforts-overturn-2020-rcna94838 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=July 18, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Schuster |first1=Simon |title=16 people face felonies in 2020 Michigan false electors scheme |url=https://www.mlive.com/politics/2023/07/16-people-face-felonies-in-2020-michigan-false-electors-scheme.html |publisher=[[MLive Media Group]] |date=July 18, 2023}}</ref> One defendant entered into a cooperation agreement with prosecutors in October 2023 in exchange for charges against him being dropped.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cappelletti |first1=Joey |title=Michigan Republican charged in false elector plot agrees to cooperation deal |url=https://apnews.com/article/fake-elector-michigan-trump-fdfe984cfbefb4bc374ca844b80ed825 |publisher=Associated Press |date=October 19, 2023}}</ref>
On August 1, 2023, at the request of [[Jack Smith (lawyer)|Jack Smith]] and the Justice Department, a federal grand jury [[Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (election obstruction case)|indicted Trump]] on charges of [[conspiracy to defraud the United States]], [[conspiracy against rights]], [[obstructing an official proceeding]] and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sneed |first1=Tierney |last2=Lybrand |first2=Holmes |last3=Cohen |first3=Marshall |last4=Cohen |first4=Zachary |last5=Cole |first5=Devan |last6=Rabinowitz |first6=Hannah |last7=Polantz |first7=Katelyn |date=August 1, 2023 |title=Donald Trump has been indicted in special counsel's 2020 election interference probe |language=en |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/politics/donald-trump-indictment-grand-jury-2020-election/index.html |access-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801220818/https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/politics/donald-trump-indictment-grand-jury-2020-election/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The indictment accused Trump of orchestrating a criminal conspiracy to subvert the 2020 election, and identified the fake electors scheme as part of the conspiracy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/us/politics/trump-indictment-charges-jan-6.html|title=Here Are the Charges Trump Faces in the Jan. 6 Case|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=1 August 2023|last=Savage|first=Charlie}}</ref>
On August 15, 2023, Trump and eighteen others [[Prosecution of Donald Trump in Georgia|were indicted]] in Georgia. The defendants, who included Trump, Giuliani, Eastman, Meadows, Chesebro, Sidney Powell, [[David Shafer (politician)|David Shafer]] and [[Shawn Still]] among others,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/15/fulton-county-trump-indictment-defendants-00111220|title=19 defendants: Here are all the people charged in the new Trump indictment|website=[[Politico]]|date=15 August 2023|first1=Erica|last1=Orden|first2=Kyle|last2=Cheney}}</ref> were charged with a variety of offenses, many of which related to involvement in the fake electors plot.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/14/indictment-document-trump-georgia/|title=Read the full text of the Trump Georgia indictment document|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=15 August 2023}}</ref> On October 20, Chesebro pleaded guilty to conspiring to file a false document and was sentenced to five years of probation; he also agreed to testify against the other defendants.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-20 |title=Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro pleads guilty over efforts to overturn Trump's 2020 loss in Georgia |url=https://apnews.com/article/chesebro-jury-selection-georgia-election-indictment-2e558eefdffd9c1eaa7ec8c31bf76044 |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> Three other defendants (including Powell) also pleaded guilty to charges not relating to the fake electors.
By December 2023, 24 fake electors had been criminally charged in three states, and Chesebro was "a witness in all of the cases".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hakim |first=Danny |date=December 8, 2023 |title=As More 'Fake Electors' Face Charges, a Key Witness Emerges |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/us/politics/chesebro-fake-electors-trump.html |access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref> However, in January 2024, the [[Attorney General of New Mexico]] stated that the fake electors couldn't be prosecuted given the laws of that state.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-05 |title=New Mexico attorney general says fake GOP electors can't be prosecuted, recommends changes |url=https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-fake-electors-9ec6f35313c6bbfe8f1ac65e8d5b323c |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[2020 Georgia election investigation]]
* [[Michigan prosecution of fake electors]]
* [[Big lie#Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election|Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election]]
* [[Public hearings of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack]]
* [[Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (2020 election case)]]
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{January 6 United States Capitol attack navbox}}
{{Donald Trump}}
[[Category:2020 scandals]]
[[Category:Controversies of the 2020 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Trump administration controversies|Fake electors plot]]
[[Category:Donald Trump controversies|Fake electors plot]]
[[Category:Confidence tricks]]
[[Category:Electoral fraud in the United States]]
[[Category:Democratic backsliding in the United States]]
[[Category:Presidential scandals in the United States]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext) | '{{Short description|2020 U.S. Republican election fraud scheme}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox event
| partof = [[Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election]]
| date = {{start and end dates|2020|11|04|2021|01|06}}
| perpetrator = [[Donald Trump]]
| outcome = Failure, [[Joe Biden]] inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
}}
The '''Trump fake electors plot''' was an [[Obstructing an official proceeding|obstruction]] scheme was devised by 45th U.S. president [[Donald Trump]] -- who lost the [[2020 United States presidential election]] -- and his allies in seven key [[Swing state|swing states]] to create and submit fraudulent [[certificates of ascertainment]] that falsely asserted Trump had won the [[United States Electoral College|electoral college]] vote in those states.<ref>{{cite news |title=Trump allies' fake Electoral College certificates offer fresh insights about plot to overturn Biden's victory |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/politics/trump-overturn-2020-election-fake-electoral-college/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]]|date=January 12, 2022 |author1=Zachary Cohen |author2=Marshall Cohen |access-date=July 24, 2022 |archive-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113003417/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/politics/trump-overturn-2020-election-fake-electoral-college/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The intent of the scheme was to pass the fraudulent certificates to then-vice president [[Mike Pence]] in the hope he would count them, rather than the authentic certificates, and thus overturn [[Joe Biden]]'s victory. This effort was predicated on a fringe legal theory outlined by Trump attorney [[John Eastman]] in the [[Eastman memos]], which claimed the vice president has constitutional discretion to swap official electors with an alternate slate during the certification process, thus changing the outcome of the electoral college vote and the overall winner of the presidential race. The scheme came to be known as the [[Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election#"Pence Card" conspiracy|Pence Card]]. By 2023, many individuals in several states had been indicted for their alleged involvement, with other investigations underway.
Trump's personal attorney, [[Rudy Giuliani]], a "central figure" in the plot,<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Fausset |first1=Richard |last2=Hakim |first2=Danny |date=2022-08-15 |title=Giuliani Is Told He Is a Target in Trump Election Inquiry in Georgia |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/us/graham-georgia-investigation-trump.html |access-date=2023-06-02 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602163946/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/us/graham-georgia-investigation-trump.html |url-status=live }}</ref> coordinated the scheme across the seven states.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Merica |first=Marshall Cohen, Zachary Cohen, Dan |date=2022-01-20 |title=Trump campaign officials, led by Rudy Giuliani, oversaw fake electors plot in 7 states {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/politics/trump-campaign-officials-rudy-giuliani-fake-electors/index.html |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=[[CNN]]|language=en |archive-date=January 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120212949/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/politics/trump-campaign-officials-rudy-giuliani-fake-electors/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In a conference call on January 2, 2021, Trump, Eastman, and Giuliani spoke to some 300 Republican state legislators in an effort to persuade them to convene [[Special legislative session|special legislative sessions]] to replace legitimate Biden electors with fake Trump electors based on unfounded allegations of vote fraud.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/election-overturn-plans/ |title=All the ways Trump tried to overturn the election — and how it could happen again - Washington Post |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=June 2, 2023 |archive-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403113644/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/election-overturn-plans/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Trump pressured the [[United States Justice Department|Justice Department]] to falsely announce it had found election fraud, and he attempted to install a new acting attorney general who had drafted a letter falsely asserting such election fraud had been found, in an attempt to persuade the Georgia legislature to convene and reconsider its Biden electoral votes.<ref name="release">{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/politics/jan-6-committee-final-report/index.html |first1=Zachary |last1=Cohen |first2=Annie |last2=Grayer |first3=Jeremy |last3=Herb |first4=Tierney |last4=Sneed |first5=Devan |last5=Cole |first6=Geneva |last6=Sands |first7=Katelyn |last7=Polantz |first8=Hannah |last8=Rabinowitz |title=January 6 committee releases final report, says Trump should be barred from office |work=[[CNN]]|date=December 23, 2022 |access-date=December 22, 2022 |archive-date=January 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116021456/https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/politics/jan-6-committee-final-report/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Trump and Eastman asked [[Republican National Committee]] chair [[Ronna McDaniel]] to enlist the committee's assistance in gathering fake "contingent" electors.<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" /> A senator's chief of staff tried to pass a list of fraudulent electors to Pence minutes before the vice president was to certify the election.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ron Johnson tried to hand fake elector info to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, panel reveals |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/21/jan-6-panel-trump-overturn-2020-election-00040816 |work=[[Politico]] |date=June 21, 2022|author1=Nicholas Wu|author2=Kyle Cheney}}</ref> The scheme was one of many elements in the [[attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election|attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election]] and was investigated by the [[January 6 committee]] and is being investigated by the Justice Department. The January 6 committee's final report identified lawyer [[Kenneth Chesebro]] as the plot's actual architect.<ref name="release" />
The [[Smith special counsel investigation]] is investigating Trump's role in the events. Testimony has revealed that Trump was fully aware of the fake electors plan,<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" /><ref name="Breuninger_6/22/2022" /> and knew that Eastman's plan for Pence to obstruct the certification of electoral votes was a violation of the [[Electoral Count Act]].<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" />
== Origins ==
{{US 2020 presidential elections series}}On November 4, the day after the election, White House chief of staff [[Mark Meadows]] received a text message calling for an "aggressive strategy" of having the Republican-led legislatures of three uncalled states "just send their own electors to vote and have it go to the [Supreme Court]". The message was reportedly sent by Trump's secretary of energy, [[Rick Perry]].<ref name="independentPerry">{{Cite web |last=Feinberg |first=Andrew |date=December 17, 2021 |title=Rick Perry sent Meadows text on 'aggressive' strategy to toss election, report says |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/rick-perry-meadows-texts-capitol-b1978490.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218102307/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/rick-perry-meadows-texts-capitol-b1978490.html |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |access-date=December 18, 2021 |website=[[The Independent]] |language=en}}</ref>
{{quote box
| width = 30em|"We would just be sending in 'fake' electoral votes to Pence so that 'someone' in Congress can make an objection when they start counting votes, and start arguing that the 'fake' votes should be counted," Jack Wilenchik, a Phoenix-based lawyer who helped organize the pro-Trump electors in Arizona, wrote in a Dec. 8, 2020, email to Boris Epshteyn, a strategic adviser for the Trump campaign.<br> In a follow-up email, Mr. Wilenchik wrote that {{"'}}alternative' votes is probably a better term than 'fake' votes," adding a smiley face emoji."<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" />
}}
On November 5, [[Roger Stone]] dictated a message saying that “any legislative body” that has "overwhelming evidence of fraud" can choose their own electors to cast Electoral College votes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mazza |first=Ed |date=2023-08-17 |title=Explosive New Footage Shows Roger Stone Hatching Trump's 2020 Election Plot |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/roger-stone-election-plot-footage_n_64dd8a74e4b0ee8ece70844a |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=[[HuffPost]] |language=en}}</ref> That same day, [[Donald Trump Jr.]] sent a text message to Meadows outlining paths to subvert the Electoral College process and ensure his father a second term. He wrote, "It's very simple. We have multiple paths. We control them all. We have operational control. Total leverage. Moral high ground. POTUS must start second term now." Trump Jr. continued, "Republicans control 28 states Democrats 22 states. Once again Trump wins," adding, "We either have a vote WE control and WE win OR it gets kicked to Congress 6 January 2021."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Nobles |first1=Ryan |last2=Cohen |first2=Zachary |last3=Grayer |first3=Annie |date=April 8, 2022 |title=CNN Exclusive: 'We control them all': Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows ideas for overturning 2020 election before it was called |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/08/politics/donald-trump-jr-meadows-text/index.html |access-date=June 13, 2022 |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408205412/https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/08/politics/donald-trump-jr-meadows-text/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
On November 6, Congressman [[Andy Biggs]] sent a text message to Meadows, asking about efforts to encourage Republican legislators in certain states to send alternate slates of electors, to which Meadows replied, "I love it."<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |last=Goodman |first=Ryan |date=June 16, 2022 |title=Timeline: False Alternate Slate of Electors Scheme, Donald Trump and His Close Associates |work=Just Security |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/81939/timeline-false-alternate-slate-of-electors-scheme-donald-trump-and-his-close-associates/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322224103/https://www.justsecurity.org/81939/timeline-false-alternate-slate-of-electors-scheme-donald-trump-and-his-close-associates/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
On November 7, major news organizations called the election for Biden, and he gave a victory speech that evening.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nagourney |first=Adam |date=November 8, 2020 |title=Five Takeaways From President-Elect Biden's Victory Speech |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/08/us/politics/biden-victory-speech-takeaways.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108063026/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/08/us/politics/biden-victory-speech-takeaways.html |archive-date=2020-11-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Senator [[Mike Lee]] and Meadows exchanged a series of text messages referring to Sidney Powell's alleged interest in pursuing a fake electors plot. On November 8, Lee wrote: "[[Sidney Powell]] is saying that she needs to get in to see the president, but she's being kept away from him. Apparently she has a strategy to keep things alive and put several states back in play. Can you help her get in?" Two days later, he texted Meadows that he found Powell to be "a straight shooter," though he raised doubts about her to Meadows after her November 19 press conference during which she described elaborate conspiracy theories. Lee sent a text to Meadows on December 8 hypothesizing: "If a very small handful of states were to have their legislatures appoint alternative slates of delegates, there could be a path," to which Meadows replied, "I am working on that as of yesterday."<ref>{{cite news |title=Mark Meadows' texts with Mike Lee and Chip Roy |first1=Mark |last1=Meadows |author-link=Mark Meadows |first2=Mike |last2=Lee |author-link2=Mike Lee |first3=Chip |last3=Roy |author-link3=Chip Roy |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/15/politics/read-mark-meadows-texts-mike-lee-chip-roy/index.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=[[CNN]]|date=April 15, 2022 |archive-date=March 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309212920/https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/15/politics/read-mark-meadows-texts-mike-lee-chip-roy/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kessler |first1=Glenn |title=Fact-checking the craziest news conference of the Trump presidency |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/19/fact-checking-craziest-news-conference-trump-presidency/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 19, 2022 |archive-date=November 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121133833/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/19/fact-checking-craziest-news-conference-trump-presidency/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Cleta Mitchell]], who participated in the [[Trump–Raffensperger phone call]] effort to reverse Georgia election results, testified to the [[January 6 committee]] that the alternate elector plot was "actually Mike Lee’s idea," telling Mitchell it would be "the sweet spot" to engage senate Republicans. The committee found that Lee later "expressed grave concerns" about the idea to a top Trump legal advisor as January 6 approached.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Woodruff |first1=Daniel |title=Jan. 6 transcript: Fake elector plot was 'Mike Lee's idea', witness testified |url=https://kutv.com/news/local/january-6-committee-utah-senator-mike-lee-fake-elector-plot-cleta-mitchell-interview-transcript-capitol-attack-presidential-election-results |publisher=[[KUTV]] |date=December 30, 2022}}</ref>
On November 9, [[Ginni Thomas]], wife of Supreme Court Justice [[Clarence Thomas]], emailed 29 Arizona lawmakers, including assembly speaker [[Russell Bowers]] and [[Shawnna Bolick]], encouraging them to pick "a clean slate of Electors" and telling them that the responsibility was "yours and yours alone".<ref name="Brown_6/10//2022">{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Emma |date=June 10, 2022 |title=Ginni Thomas pressed 29 Ariz. lawmakers to help overturn Trump's defeat, emails show |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/06/10/ginni-thomas-election-arizona-lawmakers/ |access-date=June 11, 2022 |archive-date=June 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611164148/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/06/10/ginni-thomas-election-arizona-lawmakers/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
On November 18, attorney [[Kenneth Chesebro]] sent a memo to attorney James Troupis, who represented the Trump campaign in Wisconsin.<ref name="NYT-20230808">{{cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Maggie |last2=Savage |first2=Charlie |last3=Broadwater |first3=Luke |date=August 8, 2023 |title=Previously Secret Memo Laid Out Strategy for Trump to Overturn Biden's Win - The House Jan. 6 committee's investigation did not uncover the memo, whose existence first came to light in last week's indictment. |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/08/us/politics/trump-indictment-fake-electors-memo.html |url-status=live |accessdate=August 10, 2023 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20230809142035/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/08/us/politics/trump-indictment-fake-electors-memo.html |archivedate=August 9, 2023}}</ref> It laid out the general approach of a strategy involving alternate electors. Chesebro also wrote a December 6 memo that outlined a strategy for six states, as well as a December 9 memo, sent to Troupis, that instructed on how to legally appoint alternate electors in Wisconsin and provided the exact format for the false documents they should sign. The memos came to the attention of Giuliani, Eastman and others as a broader strategy unfolded.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Feuer |first1=Alan |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |author-link2=Maggie Haberman |last3=Broadwater |first3=Luke |date=February 2, 2022 |title=Memos Show Roots of Trump's Focus on Jan. 6 and Alternate Electors |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/us/politics/trump-jan-6-memos.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205040732/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/us/politics/trump-jan-6-memos.html |archive-date=February 5, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Jamie |date=February 3, 2022 |title=Leaked Memos Show Trump Lawyers Pushing to Replace State Electors Before Jan. 6 |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/leaked-memos-show-trump-lawyers-pushing-to-replace-state-electors-before-jan-6 |access-date=February 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203103215/https://www.thedailybeast.com/leaked-memos-show-trump-lawyers-pushing-to-replace-state-electors-before-jan-6 |archive-date=February 3, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Costa |first1=Robert |last2=Watson |first2=Kathryn |date=2023-08-09 |title=Newly unveiled memo cited in Trump indictment detailed false electors scheme |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fraudulent-electors-memo-kenneth-chesebro-trump-indictment/ |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=[[CBS News]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Planning ==
Sometime between late-November and mid-December, the [[White House Counsel|White House Counsel's Office]] reviewed the plans to use alternate electors and deemed them not legally sound.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=April 25, 2022 |title=The two significant new Jan. 6 disclosures from Mark Meadows's aide |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/25/cassidy-hutchinson-mark-meadows/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=April 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426010856/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/25/cassidy-hutchinson-mark-meadows/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto" />
The [[United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack|House select committee on the January 6 attack]] concluded that Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows were involved in the early stages of the plan—as was Donald Trump, who asked on December 7 or 8 for research into whether a fake elector scheme would be possible, according to Trump campaign lawyer Joshua Findlay in his testimony to the committee.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=23 December 2022 |title=Key findings from the Jan. 6 committee's final report |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/jan-6-final-report-findings/ |access-date=24 December 2022 |archive-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223220219/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/jan-6-final-report-findings/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The committee wrote in its final report that Trump was "driving" the "fake elector plan" by December 7 or 8, and that he was collaborating "with Rudolph Giuliani on the plan’s implementation” by December 13 or 14.<ref>{{Cite web |last=House select committee |date=December 22, 2022 |title=Final report |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-REPORT/pdf/GPO-J6-REPORT.pdf |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=GovInfo.gov |page=346}}</ref>
In July 2022, ''Politico'' acquired an email that [[OANN]] anchor [[Christina Bobb]] sent to several Trump attorneys and allies. The email was dated December 13, 2020, the day before electors met across the country to certify their states' election results. It showed a Trump campaign official had spoken with teams around the country focused on the effort to appoint false electors, reported developments back to her, which she then relayed to the email recipients. Those recipients included Giuliani, [[Jenna Ellis]], [[Boris Epshteyn]] and one-time Trump attorneys [[Joe diGenova]] and his wife [[Victoria Toensing]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Woodruff Swan |first=Betsy |date=July 21, 2022 |title=Top Trump lawyers briefed in detail on alternate elector plot on Dec. 13, 2020 |work=[[Politico]] |access-date=March 10, 2023 |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/21/top-trump-lawyers-briefed-on-granular-details-of-alternate-elector-plot-00047107 |archive-date=July 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725194926/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/21/top-trump-lawyers-briefed-on-granular-details-of-alternate-elector-plot-00047107 |url-status=live }}</ref>
''The New York Times'' obtained dozens of emails in July 2022 showing communications about the scheme among Trump associates in December 2020. The emails showed discussions of how to create lists of people who could baselessly claim to be electors in key states Trump had lost. One attorney in the detailed discussions, Jack Wilenchik, described to Epshteyn a strategy of "sending in 'fake' electoral votes to Pence so that 'someone' in Congress can make an objection when they start counting votes, and start arguing that the 'fake' votes should be counted." Wilenchik repeatedly referred to these electors as "fake," later suggesting they be referred to as "alternative," appending a smiley [[emoji]].<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" />
One email informed many of the president's top advisers that naming Trump fake electors in Michigan was not possible due to the state Capitol building being closed due to pandemic restrictions. The emails showed that progress reports on the scheme were routed to Giuliani, and in one case to Meadows. Many of the emails went to Epshteyn, a close Trump advisor who was acting as a coordinator between people in the campaign, the White House and others. Epshteyn was also a regular point of contact for Eastman. The emails showed that Mike Roman played a significant role in finding ways to challenge the election results. Wilenchik wrote of a strategy by Kelli Ward, the Arizona Republican Party chair, "to keep it under wraps until Congress counts the vote Jan. 6th (so we can try to 'surprise' the Dems and media with it) — I tend to agree with her."<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022">{{Cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Maggie |last2=Broadwater |first2=Luke |date=July 26, 2022 |title='Kind of Wild/Creative': Emails Shed Light on Trump Fake Electors Plan |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/us/politics/trump-fake-electors-emails.html |access-date=July 29, 2022 |archive-date=August 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811112427/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/us/politics/trump-fake-electors-emails.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
On December 13, 2020, Robert Sinners, the campaign's election operations director for Georgia, emailed state Republicans planning to cast alternate electors for Trump. Sinners wrote: "Your duties are imperative to ensure the end result{{snd}}a win in Georgia for President Trump{{snd}}but will be hampered unless we have complete secrecy and discretion." The email surfaced in June 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gardner |first1=Amy |last2=Reinhard |first2=Beth |last3=Helderman |first3=Rosalind S. |last4=Alemany |first4=Jacqueline |date=June 6, 2022 |title=Fake Trump electors in Ga. told to shroud plans in 'secrecy,' email shows |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/06/fake-trump-electors-ga-told-shroud-plans-secrecy-email-shows/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607134730/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/06/fake-trump-electors-ga-told-shroud-plans-secrecy-email-shows/ |archive-date=June 7, 2022}}</ref>
== Events in individual states ==
[[File:Oregon Electors 2020.png|thumb| The authentic 2020 [[certificate of ascertainment]] from the state of Oregon]]
On December 14, in accordance with law, the local electors of the electoral college met in each state capital and in the District of Columbia and formalized Biden's victory, with 306 electoral votes cast for Biden and 232 electoral votes cast for Trump.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sherman |first=Mark |date=December 14, 2020 |title=Electoral College makes it official: Biden won, Trump lost |work=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-270-electoral-college-vote-d429ef97af2bf574d16463384dc7cc1e |access-date=June 15, 2022 |archive-date=June 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622003344/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-270-electoral-college-vote-d429ef97af2bf574d16463384dc7cc1e |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Corasaniti |first1=Nick |last2=Rutenberg |first2=Jim |date=December 14, 2020 |title=Electoral College Vote Officially Affirms Biden's Victory |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/us/politics/biden-electoral-college.html |access-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110084230/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/us/politics/biden-electoral-college.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
On the same day that the true electors voted, at the direction of Trump campaign officials, "alternate slates" of Republican electors convened in seven states where Biden had won by a relatively small margin (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania) to sign false certificates of ascertainment.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Zachary |last2=Cohen |first2=Marshall |date=January 12, 2022 |title=Trump allies' fake Electoral College certificates offer fresh insights about plot to overturn Biden's victory |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/politics/trump-overturn-2020-election-fake-electoral-college/index.html |access-date=January 16, 2022 |archive-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113003417/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/politics/trump-overturn-2020-election-fake-electoral-college/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This was ostensibly in case ''[[Texas v. Pennsylvania]]'' was ruled in favor of Trump. However, that case was thrown out on December 11, 2020, three days before the electoral vote was to occur, a fact that was withheld from most of the fake electors by Giuliani and Chesebro.<ref name=":03">{{Cite news |last1=Pilkington |first1=Ed |last2=Levine |first2=Sam |date=2023-08-05 |title=Inside Trump's 'alternate electors' plot to steal the vote in Georgia |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/05/trump-fake-electors-georgia |access-date=2023-09-07 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In each case the false electors signed a facsimile of an Electoral College certificate of ascertainment, proclaiming Trump and Pence the victors, and sent it to the National Archives and to Congress.<ref name="Cohen">{{Cite news |last=Hansen |first=Ronald J. |date=December 14, 2020 |title=Fake electors try to deliver Arizona's 11 votes for Trump |work=[[The Arizona Republic]] |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/12/14/arizona-groups-fake-electors-try-cast-11-electoral-votes-trump/6536056002/ |url-status=live |access-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115182619/https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/12/14/arizona-groups-fake-electors-try-cast-11-electoral-votes-trump/6536056002/ |archive-date=January 15, 2021}}</ref>
The alternate elector certificates for Pennsylvania and New Mexico contained language indicating they would take effect only if the Trump campaign's challenges to the election results were sustained by the courts; but "alternate" certificates from the other five states contained no indication that they were not genuine. These self-proclaimed electors have no legal standing, and the National Archives did not accept their documents, publishing the official (Biden) results from those states as the result of the election.<ref name="CheneyWu">{{Cite news |last1=Cheney |first1=K. |last2=Wu |date=January 21, 2022 |title='Dangerous precedent': Jan. 6 committee trains its sights on false pro-Trump electors |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/21/january-6-committee-precedent-pro-trump-electors-527528 |url-status=live |access-date=February 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217013841/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/21/january-6-committee-precedent-pro-trump-electors-527528 |archive-date=February 17, 2022}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Corasaniti |first1=Nick |last2=Rutenberg |first2=Jim |date=December 15, 2020 |title=No, there aren't 'alternate electors' who can vote for President Trump. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/technology/fake-dueling-slates-of-electors.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107185731/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/technology/fake-dueling-slates-of-electors.html |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |access-date=June 15, 2022 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name="oversight" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=July 26, 2022 |title=An intriguing new detail on Trump's 'fake' electors |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/26/trump-fake-electors-arizona/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813134140/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/26/trump-fake-electors-arizona/ |archive-date=August 13, 2022}}</ref>
=== Arizona ===
In Arizona, the fake electors met on December 14, 2020, at the state Republican Party headquarters.<ref name=":2" /> The Arizona falsified electoral documents were produced and sent by a group that claimed to represent the "sovereign citizens of the Great State of Arizona".<ref name="Cohen" /> The document made in Arizona had a facsimile of the state seal.<ref name="NicholasWu2022" /> The [[Arizona Republican Party]] then posted on its Twitter account a video of party members signing the certificates, and issued a press release.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Ruelas |first=Richard |date=February 2, 2022 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |title=Head of Arizona Republican Party fights Jan. 6 committee subpoena for cellphone records |work=[[The Arizona Republic]] |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2022/02/02/arizona-gop-chair-kelli-ward-fights-jan-6-committee-subpoena-phone-records/6642838001/ |archive-date=February 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205204057/https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2022/02/02/arizona-gop-chair-kelli-ward-fights-jan-6-committee-subpoena-phone-records/6642838001/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Georgia ===
{{Further|Georgia election racketeering prosecution#Creation of false electoral vote documents}}
The 16 potential electors for Trump in Georgia were chosen before the election, as is typical. After Biden won the election, and days before the scheduled casting of electoral votes, the Republican electors received calls asking them to come to the Capitol to cast "alternate" (fake) ballots. Four members of the Republican electoral slate declined to participate, including former U.S. Senator [[Johnny Isakson]], and were replaced.<ref name=":03" />
Georgia fake electors convened in a meeting room at the [[Georgia State Capitol]] at the same time the true electors were meeting in the Senate chamber. Unlike in some other states, one case, [[Post-election lawsuits related to the 2020 United States presidential election from Georgia#Trump v. Raffensperger|''Trump v. Raffensperger'']], was still pending at the time. The falsified documents were then sent to the U.S. Senate and the National Archives by Giuliani and Chesebro's team.<ref name=":03" />
=== Michigan ===
{{Further|Michigan prosecution of fake electors#Attempt to falsify electoral votes}}
{{External media|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NgLQxMV9c Republicans try to deliver their own electoral votes to Michigan Capitol—Detroit Free Press]|float=right}}The Michigan fake electors met in the basement of the state Republican Party headquarters on December 14, 2020,<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Schneider |first=Joe |date=2023-07-18 |title=Michigan Charges Fake Trump Electors With Scheme to Swing 2020 |language=en |work=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]] |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-18/michigan-charges-trump-backing-fake-2020-electors-with-forgery |access-date=2023-08-29}}</ref> after [[Michigan Republican Party]] chair [[Laura Cox (politician)|Laura Cox]] successfully opposed a plan to have the false electors hide overnight in the [[Michigan State Capitol]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last1=Gardner |first1=Amy |last2=Marley |first2=Patrick |last3=Sanchez |first3=Yvonne Wingett |last4=Dawsey |first4=Josh |date=2023-08-08 |title='Fake' elector plot raised concerns over legal peril, indictment shows |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/07/fake-electors-trump-indictment/ |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> They produced and signed multiple documents falsely stating they were the duly elected and qualified electors in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and containing electoral votes for Donald Trump.<ref name=":02" /> The documents were then sent to the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] and [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]],<ref name=":02" /> as well as the [[Office of the Federal Register]], Michigan Secretary of State [[Jocelyn Benson]], and the federal [[United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan|U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Eggert |first=David |date=January 14, 2022 |title=Michigan AG asks feds to investigate fake GOP electors |work=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michigan-elections-electoral-college-criminal-investigations-8a0454f0a28fd3f5903fa3ab962f764b |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115001640/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michigan-elections-electoral-college-criminal-investigations-8a0454f0a28fd3f5903fa3ab962f764b |archive-date=January 15, 2022}}</ref>
Four defendants later that day attempted to enter the Michigan State Capitol with State Representative [[Daire Rendon]], appearing to present the falsified certificate to gain entry into the building and claiming to be true electors, but they were turned away by the [[Michigan State Police]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last1=Mauger |first1=Craig |last2=LeBlanc |first2=Beth |date=2023-07-18 |title=16 false Trump electors face felony charges in Michigan |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/michigan/2023/07/18/michigan-donald-trump-fake-electors-charged-felonies-attorney-general-dana-nessel/70427042007/ |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=[[The Detroit News]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":32">{{Cite web |last=Villarreal |first=Daniel |date=2020-12-15 |title=Michigan Republicans Tried to Submit Fake Electoral Votes to Capitol |url=https://www.newsweek.com/michigan-republicans-tried-submit-fake-electoral-votes-capitol-1555028 |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=[[Newsweek]]|language=en}}</ref>
===Nevada===
On December 6, 2023, a [[Clark County, Nevada]] grand jury indicted six Republican party officials, including the chair of the Nevada Republican Party, on two felony charges each of submitting fraudulent documents to state and local officials.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mueller |first1=Tabitha |date=December 6, 2023 |title=Nevada GOP ‘fake electors’ indicted for falsely claiming Trump won state’s 2020 election |work=The Nevada Independent |url=https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/nevada-gop-fake-electors-indicted-for-falsely-claiming-trump-won-states-2020-election}}</ref>
=== Pennsylvania ===
The Trump campaign initially resisted that qualifying language including not contesting the popular vote in Pennsylvania
itself, but ultimately acquiesced to its inclusion.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{cite news |author1=Amy Gardner |author2=Patrick Marley |author3=Yvonne Wingett Sanchez |author4=Josh Dawsey |date=August 7, 2023 |title='Fake' elector plot raised concerns over legal peril, indictment shows |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/07/fake-electors-trump-indictment/}}</ref>{{Clarify|date=December 2023}}
===Wisconsin===
In Wisconsin, one of the ten fake electors was Robert F. Spindell, a member of the six-person [[Wisconsin Elections Commission]]. Spindell was appointed to the commission by Wisconsin Senate majority leader [[Devin LeMahieu]]; subsequent to the fake elector plot, LeMahieu reappointed Spindell to another six-year term.
In May 2022, a civil lawsuit was filed against Wisconsin's 10 fake electors and two attorneys who collaborated with them.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.wpr.org/democrats-file-lawsuit-against-wisconsin-republicans-who-posed-electors |title= Democrats file lawsuit against Wisconsin Republicans who posed as electors |first= Shawn |last= Johnson |work= [[Wisconsin Public Radio]] |date= May 17, 2022 |accessdate= December 12, 2023 }}</ref> After more than a year of discovery and filings, the 10 fake electors, including Spindell, agreed to a partial settlement of the case in December 2023. They acknowledged that their actions were "part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results."<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.wpr.org/wisconsin-false-electors-admit-improperly-overturn-2020-presidential-election-trump |title= Wisconsin false electors admit their actions were used in effort to 'improperly overturn' the 2020 election |first= Anya |last= van Wagtendonk |date= December 6, 2023 |work= [[Wisconsin Public Radio]] |accessdate= December 12, 2023 }}</ref> They further stated: "We hereby reaffirm that Joseph R. Biden Jr. won the 2020 presidential election and that we were not the duly elected presidential electors for the State of Wisconsin for the 2020 presidential election. We oppose any attempt to undermine the public's faith in the ultimate results of the 2020 presidential election." This settlement represented the first time that fake electors anywhere in the country had formally repudiated their electoral claims.<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2023/12/06/wisconsins-fake-electors-settle-lawsuit-acknowledge-biden-won-in-2020/ |title= Wisconsin’s fake electors settle lawsuit, acknowledge Biden won in 2020 |first= Henry |last= Redman |date= December 6, 2023 |work= [[Wisconsin Examiner]] |accessdate= December 12, 2023 }}</ref>
After Spindell acknowledged his part in filing fraudulent paperwork, the Wisconsin Secretary of State, [[Sarah Godlewski]]—in her capacity as the current holder of the office which had received that false paperwork—demanded that Spindell be removed from his seat on the Wisconsin Elections Commission by LeMahieu. LeMahieu, however, reiterated his support for Spindell.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-fake-electors-trump-3431e690e5fef23c0f2cdfaa4257ecb6 |title= Wisconsin Republican leader stands by fake Trump elector, will keep him on elections commission |first= Scott |last= Bauer |date= December 11, 2023 |work= [[Associated Press]] |accessdate= December 12, 2023 }}</ref>
Also in December 2023, CNN reported that Kenneth Chesebro, who was also a defendant in the previously-mentioned civil suit, was cooperating with officials in Wisconsin, the first indication that a formal investigation was underway in the state.<ref>{{cite news |title=Exclusive: Pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro cooperating in multiple state probes into 2020 fake electors plot |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/08/politics/kenneth-chesebro-cooperating-multiple-investigations/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=December 8, 2023|author1=Zachary Cohen|author2=Marshall Cohen}}</ref>
== Later developments ==
[[File:2020 presidential election US electoral college certificates.jpg|thumb|Boxes containing authentic electoral certificates of the 2020 U.S. presidential election]]The "alternate slates" were part of the White House plan for contesting the election. As Trump advisor [[Stephen Miller (political advisor)|Stephen Miller]] described on television on December 14,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Durkee |first=Alison |date=December 14, 2020 |title=Group Claiming To Be Michigan GOP Electors Locked Out of Capitol, Police Used To Bar Entrance |work=[[Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/12/14/trump-campaign-assembling-alternate-electors-in-key-states-in-far-fetched-attempt-to-overturn-election/ |access-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110135338/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/12/14/trump-campaign-assembling-alternate-electors-in-key-states-in-far-fetched-attempt-to-overturn-election/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the alternate electors were intended to replace those electors certified by their respective states based on election results. The strategy was explicitly spelled out in the [[Eastman memos|John Eastman memo]]: the existence of "competing" slates of electors was intended to provide justification for Congress to disallow the results from the seven states.<ref name="Cohen" /> All of the alternate elector certificates were prepared with similar language, formatting, and fonts, as reported,<ref name="CheneyWu" /><ref>{{Cite press release |date=January 12, 2022 |title=Fake Electoral Certificates Obtained by American Oversight Draw Renewed Scrutiny |url=https://www.americanoversight.org/fake-electoral-certificates-obtained-by-american-oversight-draw-renewed-scrutiny |access-date=February 17, 2022 |website=American Oversight}}</ref> thus indicating that the state actions were coordinated. ''The Washington Post'' and CNN reported in January 2022 that Giuliani led Trump campaign officials in coordinating the plan across the seven states.
Chesebro and Troupis met with Trump in the Oval Office on December 16. Troupis told the president that his chances of winning Wisconsin were over, but Chesebro said the fake electors gathered in Arizona and six other states still gave Trump an opening to continue challenging the results.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Marshall |title=Exclusive: Recordings describe 2020 Oval Office photo-op where Trump was briefed on fake electors and January 6 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/13/politics/trump-2020-oval-office-fake-electors-recordings/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=December 13, 2023}}</ref>
Trump ally Boris Epshteyn and others asserted creating alternate certificates of ascertainment was a contingency similar to the 1960 presidential election, in which two slates of electors were prepared pending results of a late recount of ballots in Hawaii. Both parties agreed to that recount, which ultimately resulted in [[John F. Kennedy]] winning the state, though the outcome of the election did not hinge on the Hawaii results. By contrast, in the case of the 2020 election, the stated need for slates of alternate electors in multiple states was predicated on persistent false claims of nationwide election fraud. Other important differences include the fact that the 1960 Hawaiian Democratic elector slate was certified by the state's Republican governor, while none of the Trump alternate elector slates were endorsed by their respective states' governors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kilgore |first1=Ed |title=The Flimsy Nixon Precedent Trump Is Seizing On to Contest Biden's Win |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/the-nixon-precedent-trump-will-cite-to-contest-bidens-win.html |website=[[New York (magazine)|New York Intelligencer]] |language=en-us |date=29 December 2020}}</ref> Epshteyn asserted the slates of alternate electors were not fraudulent and "it is not against the law, it is according to the law." He was among the members of a Trump team present in a [[Willard Hotel]] "command center" that sought to prevent Pence from certifying Biden's election on January 6.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Reinhard |first1=Beth |last2=Gardner |first2=Amy |last3=Dawsey |first3=Josh |last4=Brown |first4=Emma |last5=Helderman |first5=Rosalind S. |date=January 20, 2021 |title=As Giuliani coordinated plan for Trump electoral votes in states Biden won, some electors balked |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/electors-giuliani-trump-electoral-college/2022/01/20/687e3698-7587-11ec-8b0a-bcfab800c430_story.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121151123/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/electors-giuliani-trump-electoral-college/2022/01/20/687e3698-7587-11ec-8b0a-bcfab800c430_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Vaillancourt |first=William |date=January 21, 2022 |title=Giuliani Pal Fesses Up to Scheme to Seat Trump Electors |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/giuliani-pal-boris-epshteyn-fesses-up-to-scheme-to-seat-trump-electors |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327130528/https://www.thedailybeast.com/giuliani-pal-boris-epshteyn-fesses-up-to-scheme-to-seat-trump-electors |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Griffing |first=Alex |date=January 21, 2022 |title=Boris Epshteyn Says Effort to Swap in Pro-Trump Electors Was 'Done Under the Leadership of Rudy Giuliani' |work=[[Mediaite]] |url=https://www.mediaite.com/news/boris-epshteyn-says-effort-to-swap-in-pro-trump-electors-was-done-under-the-leadership-of-rudy-giuliani/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327130530/https://www.mediaite.com/news/boris-epshteyn-says-effort-to-swap-in-pro-trump-electors-was-done-under-the-leadership-of-rudy-giuliani/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
''Politico'' reported in July 2022 that [[Mike Roman]], Trump's 2020 director of election day operations, delivered the fraudulent certificates to Matt Stroia, the then-chief of staff for congressman [[Mike Kelly (Pennsylvania politician)|Mike Kelly]]. Stroia then directed a colleague to distribute copies on Capitol Hill. Kelly said Stroia had received the certificates but denied any involvement of his office in their distribution. Kelly was a Trump ally in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. The January 6 committee disclosed during a June 2022 hearing that Sean Riley, chief of staff to senator [[Ron Johnson]], attempted to [[Public hearings of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack#Sean Riley "alternate electors" plan for Wisconsin and Michigan|pass fraudulent elector certificates to a top Pence aide]] minutes before the vice president was to certify the election results, but was rebuffed. Johnson said his office received the certificates from Kelly's office and that his personal involvement lasted "a couple seconds."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kyle Cheney |last2=Nicholas Wu |date=July 15, 2022 |title=Trump campaign operative who delivered Jan. 6 false elector lists is identified |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/15/jan-6-trump-operative-false-electors-00046175 |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313093938/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/15/jan-6-trump-operative-false-electors-00046175 |archive-date=March 13, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Nicholas Wu |last2=Kyle Cheney |date=June 21, 2022 |title=Ron Johnson tried to hand fake elector info to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, panel reveals |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/21/jan-6-panel-trump-overturn-2020-election-00040816 |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314210041/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/21/jan-6-panel-trump-overturn-2020-election-00040816 |archive-date=March 14, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Naughtie |first1=Andrew |title=GOP Senator Ron Johnson says his involvement in Jan 6 fake electors plan lasted ‘a couple seconds’ |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ron-johnson-jan-6-fake-electors-b2150125.html |work=The Independent |date=August 22, 2022}}</ref>
On December 22, [[Ivan Raiklin]], an associate of [[Michael Flynn]] and a former special forces officer who presented himself as a constitutional attorney, tweeted to Trump a two-page memo entitled, "Operation [[Pence Card]]," describing how the vice president might reject electors from states Biden won and in which Trump alleged fraud. Trump retweeted the Raiklin tweet.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ram Roston |last2=Brad Heath |last3=John Shiffman |last4=Peter Eisler |date=December 15, 2021 |title=The military-intelligence veterans who helped lead Trump's campaign of disinformation |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-military/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218203057/https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-military/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[Jeffrey Clark]], the [[United States Assistant Attorney General|Assistant Attorney General]] for the [[United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division|Environment and Natural Resources Division]], was introduced to Trump by Republican congressman [[Scott Perry (politician)|Scott Perry]]. Clark and Perry discussed a plan for Clark to draft a letter to Georgia officials stating the DOJ had "identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States," urging the Georgia legislature to convene a special session for the "purpose of considering issues pertaining to the appointment of Presidential Electors." Clark presented the draft letter on December 28 to acting Attorney General [[Jeffrey A. Rosen|Jeffrey Rosen]] and his deputy [[Richard Donoghue]] for their signatures; they rejected the proposal and the letter was never sent.{{efn|name="multiple"}}
Rosen and Donoghue also resisted pressure from Trump to announce the DOJ had found election fraud; attorney general [[Bill Barr]] had resigned days earlier after announcing that no election fraud of consequence had been found, telling Trump that allegations he and his associates espoused were "bullshit." Rosen and Donoghue declined Trump's request to "Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen," according to notes Donoghue took during a phone call with the president. The continuing resistance culminated in an Oval Office meeting during which Trump proposed replacing Rosen with Clark, which was abandoned when Rosen advised the president that the proposal would trigger mass resignations at the DOJ.{{efn|name="multiple"|Multiple sources:<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 1, 2020 |first=Michael |last=Balsamo |title=Disputing Trump, Barr says no widespread election fraud |url=https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d |access-date=June 15, 2022 |website=[[Associated Press]] |archive-date=December 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207191752/https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Benner |first1=Katie |last2=Edmondson |first2=Catie |date=January 24, 2021 |title=Pennsylvania Lawmaker Played Key Role in Trump's Plot to Oust Acting Attorney General |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/us/politics/scott-perry-trump-justice-department-election.html |access-date=January 24, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630042400/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/us/politics/scott-perry-trump-justice-department-election.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-rosen-election-calls/2021/07/28/43106ab6-efd6-11eb-bf80-e3877d9c5f06_story.html |title=As Trump pushed for probes of 2020 election, he called acting AG Rosen almost daily |last1=Dawsey |first1=Josh |last2=Barrett |first2=Devlin |date=July 28, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=July 30, 2021 |archive-date=July 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729221414/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-rosen-election-calls/2021/07/28/43106ab6-efd6-11eb-bf80-e3877d9c5f06_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/08/trump-doj-official-urged-acting-ag-pressure-georgia-election/5531371001/ |title=Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark pushed acting AG to interfere in Georgia election: report |last=Brown |first=Matthew |date=August 8, 2021 |work=[[USA Today]] |access-date=August 10, 2021 |archive-date=August 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811022651/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/08/trump-doj-official-urged-acting-ag-pressure-georgia-election/5531371001/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Bullshit': Hear what Barr told Trump about election fraud claims |url=https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2022/06/10/barr-trump-election-bullshit-2022-january-6-hearings-sot-vpx.cnn |work=[[CNN]] |date=June 10, 2022 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406182028/https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2022/06/10/barr-trump-election-bullshit-2022-january-6-hearings-sot-vpx.cnn |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kranish |first1=Michael |title=Inside the explosive Oval Office confrontation three days before Jan. 6 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/14/inside-explosive-oval-office-confrontation-three-days-before-jan-6/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 14, 2022 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331050434/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/14/inside-explosive-oval-office-confrontation-three-days-before-jan-6/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Herb |first1=Jeremy |title=Trump to DOJ last December: 'Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me' |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/30/politics/trump-election-justice/index.html |work=[[CNN]] |date=July 31, 2021 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323124304/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/30/politics/trump-election-justice/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
ABC News chief Washington correspondent [[Jonathan Karl]] reported that on New Year's Eve 2020, White House chief of staff [[Mark Meadows]] sent a memo drafted by Trump attorney Jenna Ellis to a top Pence aide containing a detailed plan to overturn the election results. The plan entailed Pence returning the electoral results to six battleground states on January 6, with a deadline of January 15 for the states to return them. If any state did not return their electoral slate by that date, neither Trump nor Biden would hold a majority, so the election would be thrown to the House for a vote to determine the winner. Per the Constitution, in such a scenario the vote would be conducted on the basis of party control of state delegations to the federal House of Representatives, with Republicans holding 26 of 50, presumably giving Trump the victory.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cathey |first=Libby |date=November 14, 2021 |title=Memo from Trump attorney outlined how Pence could overturn election, says new book |work=[[ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/memo-trump-attorney-outlined-pence-overturn-election-book/story?id=81134003 |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114180719/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/memo-trump-attorney-outlined-pence-overturn-election-book/story?id=81134003 |archive-date=November 14, 2021}}</ref>
On January 2, 2021, Trump, Giuliani, Eastman and others held a conference call with some 300 legislators of key states to provide them purported evidence of election fraud to justify calling special sessions of their legislatures in an attempt to decertify their slates of Biden electors. Three days later, dozens of lawmakers from five key states wrote Pence to ask him to delay the January 6 final certification of electors for ten days to allow legislators the opportunity to reconsider their states' certifications.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Jacqueline Alemany |last2=Emma Brown |last3=Tom Hamburger |last4=Jon Swaine |date=October 23, 2021 |title=Ahead of Jan. 6, Willard hotel in downtown D.C. was a Trump team 'command center' for effort to deny Biden the presidency |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/willard-trump-eastman-giuliani-bannon/2021/10/23/c45bd2d4-3281-11ec-9241-aad8e48f01ff_story.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026024450/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/willard-trump-eastman-giuliani-bannon/2021/10/23/c45bd2d4-3281-11ec-9241-aad8e48f01ff_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
On January 5, congressman [[Jim Jordan]] forwarded to Meadows a text message he had received from [[Joseph E. Schmitz|Joseph Schmitz]], a Trump 2016 campaign foreign policy advisor. Schmitz wrote that on January 6 Pence "should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all." Schmitz was previously a [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]] Pentagon inspector general and a [[Blackwater (company)|Blackwater]] executive.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nobles |first1=Ryan |last2=Cohen |first2=Zachary |date=December 16, 2022 |title=Jim Jordan sent one of the texts revealed by January 6 committee |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/15/politics/jim-jordan-mark-meadows-text/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327125638/https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/15/politics/jim-jordan-mark-meadows-text/ |archive-date=March 27, 2023}}</ref>
Trump falsely insisted that Pence had the authority to reject Electoral College results, but Pence told the president on January 5, 2021 that he did not believe he did. While the January 6 attack was in progress, Trump tweeted:
<blockquote>Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!</blockquote>
Some in the crowd began chanting "hang Mike Pence!". Former White House aide [[Cassidy Hutchinson]] testified to the January 6 committee that Trump indicated his approval of the chant. After the attackers were expelled from the Capitol, Pence counted the authentic certificates to certify Biden's victory.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schmidt |first1=Michael S. |title=Trump Says Pence Can Overturn His Loss in Congress. That’s Not How It Works. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/us/politics/pence-trump-election.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 5, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Pence Said to Have Told Trump He Lacks Power to Change Election Result |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/us/politics/pence-trump-election-results.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 5, 2021|author1=Maggie Haberman|author2=Annie Karni}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Trump reacted with approval to ‘hang Mike Pence’ chants from rioters on January 6 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/25/politics/donald-trump-january-6-mike-pence-chants/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=May 26, 2022|author1=Jim Acosta|author2=Paula Reid}}</ref>
== Investigations ==
Despite assumptions about Eastman's role, the January 6 committee's final report, which was released on December 22, 2022, named lesser known lawyer [[Kenneth Chesebro]] as the plot's original proponent.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 23, 2022 |title=Highlights from the Jan. 6 committee's final report on the Capitol attack |work=[[NBC News]] |first=Scott |last=Wong |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jan-6-committee-unveils-final-report-capping-18-month-probe-rcna62629 |access-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223073515/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jan-6-committee-unveils-final-report-capping-18-month-probe-rcna62629 |url-status=live }}</ref> Chesebro pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the [[Georgia election racketeering prosecution]] and by December 2023 was cooperating with similar investigations in at least four other states.<ref>{{cite news |title=Exclusive: Pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro cooperating in multiple state probes into 2020 fake electors plot |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/08/politics/kenneth-chesebro-cooperating-multiple-investigations/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=December 8, 2023|author1=Zachary Cohen|author2=Marshall Cohen}}</ref>
In early 2021, the watchdog group American Oversight obtained copies of the false documents from the National Archives via a [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information]] request; they published them on their website in March 2021.<ref name="oversight">{{Cite press release |date=March 2, 2021 |title=American Oversight Obtains Seven Phony Certificates of Pro-Trump Electors |url=https://www.americanoversight.org/american-oversight-obtains-seven-phony-certificates-of-pro-trump-electors |access-date=January 16, 2022 |website=American Oversight}}</ref> However, the documents were largely overlooked until the story was reported by ''[[Politico]]'' reporter Nicholas Wu in January 2022.<ref name="NicholasWu2022">{{Cite news |last=Wu |first=Nicholas |date=January 10, 2022 |title=Jan. 6 panel ramps up investigation into Trump's state-level pressure |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/10/jan-6-committee-ramps-up-state-level-investigation-526752 |access-date=January 16, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111135335/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/10/jan-6-committee-ramps-up-state-level-investigation-526752 |url-status=live }}</ref> Michigan attorney general [[Dana Nessel]] announced in January 2022 that after a months-long investigation into the Michigan certificate she had asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation, closing the Michigan investigation. Deputy attorney general [[Lisa Monaco]] days later confirmed the Justice Department was examining the matter. Nessel announced in January 2023 that she was reopening her investigation "because I don't know what the federal government plans to do."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eggert |first=David |date=January 14, 2022 |title=Michigan AG asks feds to investigate fake GOP electors |work=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michigan-elections-electoral-college-criminal-investigations-8a0454f0a28fd3f5903fa3ab962f764b |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115001640/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michigan-elections-electoral-college-criminal-investigations-8a0454f0a28fd3f5903fa3ab962f764b |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Perez |first1=Evan |last2=Sneed |first2=Tierney |date=January 25, 2022 |title=Exclusive: Federal prosecutors looking at 2020 fake elector certifications, deputy attorney general tells CNN |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/politics/fake-trump-electoral-certificates-justice-department/index.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=January 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127054539/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/politics/fake-trump-electoral-certificates-justice-department/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Boucher |first1=Dave |title=Nessel reopens criminal probe of GOP 'fake electors' after no word from feds |url=https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/06/nessel-gop-fake-electors-investigation/69785142007/ |work=[[Detroit Free Press]] |date=June 3, 2022 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=February 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216015207/https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/06/nessel-gop-fake-electors-investigation/69785142007/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In January 2022, the [[Pennsylvania Attorney General]]’s office said that the conditional statement on the documents caused them not to meet the standards of forgery. However, the [[Attorney General of New Mexico|New Mexico Attorney General]] referred the matter to federal prosecutors, even though their documents had a similar conditional statement.<ref name="CheneyWu" />
On June 22, 2022, the Justice Department issued subpoenas to [[Georgia Republican Party]] chair David Shafer and another party official who allegedly signed a document claiming to be Trump electors, and to a Virginia man who worked on the Trump campaign's efforts in Arizona and New Mexico. Other alleged false Trump electors in Michigan also received subpoenas, though it was not clear whether they were federal or state; Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel had also been investigating the fraudulent elector scheme.{{efn|name="washingtonpost.com"|Multiple sources:<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Spencer S. Hsu |last2=Josh Dawsey |last3=Devlin Barrett |date=June 22, 2022 |title=Jan. 6 probe expands with fresh subpoenas in multiple states |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/22/jan6-fbi-electors-subpoenas/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=June 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622195009/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/22/jan6-fbi-electors-subpoenas/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Charns |first1=David |title=I-Team sources: FBI seizes Nevada GOP chairman's phone as part of fake elector investigation |url=https://www.8newsnow.com/i-team/i-team-sources-fbi-seizes-nevada-gop-chairmans-phone-as-part-of-fake-elector-investigation/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920054243/https://www.8newsnow.com/investigators/i-team-sources-fbi-seizes-nevada-gop-chairmans-phone-as-part-of-fake-elector-investigation/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |url-status=live |date=June 22, 2022 |work=[[KLAS-TV]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Justice Dept. Issues More Subpoenas in Trump Electors Investigation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/us/politics/justice-dept-jan-6-subpoenas.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 22, 2022 |first1=Alan |last1=Feuer |first2=Maggie |last2=Haberman |author-link2=Maggie Haberman |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=June 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629044929/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/us/politics/justice-dept-jan-6-subpoenas.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wereschagin |first1=Mike |title=FBI interviews Allegheny County GOP chair Sam DeMarco about Trump's attempt to plant fake electors |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-local/2022/06/23/allegheny-county-republican-gop-chairman-sam-demarco-council-jan-6-election-overturn-fbi-subpoena-fake-electors/stories/202206230120 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=June 23, 2022 |archive-date=June 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626065946/https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-local/2022/06/23/allegheny-county-republican-gop-chairman-sam-demarco-council-jan-6-election-overturn-fbi-subpoena-fake-electors/stories/202206230120 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=DOJ searches home of former official who aided alleged pro-Trump 'coup' |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/23/law-enforcement-trump-official-coup-00041767 |work=[[Politico]] |date=June 23, 2022 |first1=Betsy Woodruff |last1=Swan |first2=Josh |last2=Gerstein |first3=Kyle |last3=Cheney |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627235512/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/23/law-enforcement-trump-official-coup-00041767 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
The [[FBI]] also served a search warrant on [[Nevada Republican Party]] chair Michael McDonald, and sought to serve a warrant on party secretary James DeGraffenreid; both men had signed a fraudulent certificate of ascertainment. FBI agents interviewed Sam DeMarco, chair of the [[Allegheny County, Pennsylvania]] Republican party, at his home the next day. ''Politico'' reported concurrently that Arizona Republican chair [[Kelli Ward]] and her husband had also been subpoenaed, but did not specify when.{{efn|name="washingtonpost.com"}} By July 2022, [[Fulton County, Georgia]] district attorney [[Fani Willis]] had notified sixteen Republicans that they were "targets" of her criminal investigation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cheney |first=Kyle |date=July 19, 2022 |title=False Georgia electors are deemed targets of DA criminal probe |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/19/false-georgia-electors-da-probe-00046593 |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322223031/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/19/false-georgia-electors-da-probe-00046593 |url-status=live }}</ref>
During its fourth public hearing, the January 6 committee presented a video excerpt of a deposition from [[Republican National Committee]] chair [[Ronna McDaniel]]. She revealed that Trump was fully aware of the fake electors plan,<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" /> as he and Eastman had called her to enlist the committee's assistance to "gather these contingent electors, in case any of the legal challenges that were ongoing changed the result of any of the states."<ref name="Breuninger_6/22/2022">{{Cite web |last=Breuninger |first=Kevin |date=June 22, 2022 |title=Trump had a direct role in plan to install fake electors. Key takeaways from the fourth Jan. 6 hearing |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/22/jan-6-probe-takeaways-trump-had-a-direct-role-in-plan-to-install-fake-electors.html |access-date=July 29, 2022 |website=[[CNBC]] |archive-date=June 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622151510/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/22/jan-6-probe-takeaways-trump-had-a-direct-role-in-plan-to-install-fake-electors.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The committee also heard testimony from [[Greg Jacob]], counsel for Mike Pence, "that Mr. Eastman admitted in the Jan. 4 Oval Office {{nowrap|meeting{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{px2}}}}with Mr. Trump {{nowrap|present{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{px2}}}}that his plan to have Mr. Pence obstruct the electoral certification violated the Electoral Count Act."<ref name="Haberman_Broadwater_7/26/2022" />
''The Washington Post'' reported on July 26, 2022, that the Justice Department was examining Trump's role. Prosecutors had asked grand jury witnesses hours of detailed questions about conversations between Trump, his attorneys and others about the scheme. Pence's former chief of staff [[Marc Short]] and counsel Greg Jacob, who had advised Pence to reject Eastman's Pence Card scheme, had testified before the grand jury.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Carol D. Leonnig |last2=Devlin Barrett |last3=Josh Dawsey |last4=Spencer S. Hsu |date=July 26, 2022 |title=Justice Dept. investigating Trump's actions in Jan. 6 criminal probe |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/26/trump-justice-investigation-january-6/ |access-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-date=August 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804133342/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/26/trump-justice-investigation-january-6/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Smith special counsel investigation]], established in November 2022, examined the fake electors scheme,<ref>{{cite news |title=Jack Smith, Special Counsel for Trump Inquiries, Steps Up the Pace |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/us/politics/jack-smith-special-counsel-trump-investigations.html |access-date=March 10, 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 12, 2023 |first1=Maggie |last1=Haberman |first2=Glenn |last2=Thrush |first3=Alan |last3=Feuer |archive-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310035041/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/us/politics/jack-smith-special-counsel-trump-investigations.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 2023 at least two fake electors testified before the grand jury in exchange for limited immunity.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Polantz |first1=Katelyn |last2=Murray |first2=Sara |last3=Cohen |first3=Zachary |last4=Gannon |first4=Casey |date=2023-06-23 |title=Exclusive: Special counsel trades immunity for fake elector testimony as Jan 6 probe heats up |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/politics/special-counsel-fake-electors-immunity-testimony-jan-6/index.html |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=[[CNN]] Politics |language=en |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623165851/https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/politics/special-counsel-fake-electors-immunity-testimony-jan-6/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The [[Arizona Attorney General]] sent a [[cease and desist]] letter to the group representing the fake electors on the illegal use of the state seal.<ref name="NicholasWu2022" /> By May 2023, Arizona Attorney General [[Kris Mayes]] was ramping up a criminal investigation into the signing and transmission of false certificates of ascertainment.<ref>{{cite news |author=Yvonne Wingett Sanchez |date=July 13, 2023 |title=Arizona escalates probe into alleged efforts to swing election for Trump |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/13/investigation-2020-election-results-arizona-trump/}}</ref> By this time, at least eight of the sixteen Republicans who allegedly participated in the Georgia scheme had accepted immunity deals to cooperate with Fani Willis in [[2020 Georgia election investigation|her investigation]].<ref name=":2" />
CNN reported in June 2023 that Roman had entered into a [[proffer agreement]] with the [[Smith special counsel investigation]].<ref>{{cite news |author1=Zachary Cohen |author2=Kaitlin Collins |date=June 29, 2023 |title=Former Trump campaign official cooperating with special counsel in 2020 election interference probe |publisher=[[CNN]]|url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/politics/mike-roman-trump-campaign-cooperate-special-counsel-probe/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630002635/https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/politics/mike-roman-trump-campaign-cooperate-special-counsel-probe/index.html |archive-date=June 30, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Alan Feuer |author2=Maggie Haberman |date=June 23, 2023 |title=Former Trump Campaign Official in Talks to Cooperate in Jan. 6 Inquiry |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/us/politics/michael-roman-trump-jan-6-jack-smith.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623231344/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/us/politics/michael-roman-trump-jan-6-jack-smith.html |archive-date=June 23, 2023}}</ref>
By August 2023, local authorities in Pennsylvania and New Mexico were investigating electors.<ref name=":3" />
== Prosecutions ==
{{Main|Georgia election racketeering prosecution|Michigan prosecution of fake electors|Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (election obstruction case)}}
Michigan Attorney General [[Dana Nessel]] announced on July 18, 2023, that she had [[Michigan prosecution of fake electors|charged sixteen individuals with eight felony counts each]], including forgery and conspiracy, alleging they had knowingly signed certificates of ascertainment falsely claiming they were "duly elected and qualified electors" for Michigan.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Timm |first1=Jane C. |title=Michigan attorney general charges 'false electors' over efforts to overturn the 2020 election |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/michigan-attorney-general-charges-false-electors-efforts-overturn-2020-rcna94838 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=July 18, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Schuster |first1=Simon |title=16 people face felonies in 2020 Michigan false electors scheme |url=https://www.mlive.com/politics/2023/07/16-people-face-felonies-in-2020-michigan-false-electors-scheme.html |publisher=[[MLive Media Group]] |date=July 18, 2023}}</ref> One defendant entered into a cooperation agreement with prosecutors in October 2023 in exchange for charges against him being dropped.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cappelletti |first1=Joey |title=Michigan Republican charged in false elector plot agrees to cooperation deal |url=https://apnews.com/article/fake-elector-michigan-trump-fdfe984cfbefb4bc374ca844b80ed825 |publisher=Associated Press |date=October 19, 2023}}</ref>
On August 1, 2023, at the request of [[Jack Smith (lawyer)|Jack Smith]] and the Justice Department, a federal grand jury [[Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (election obstruction case)|indicted Trump]] on charges of [[conspiracy to defraud the United States]], [[conspiracy against rights]], [[obstructing an official proceeding]] and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sneed |first1=Tierney |last2=Lybrand |first2=Holmes |last3=Cohen |first3=Marshall |last4=Cohen |first4=Zachary |last5=Cole |first5=Devan |last6=Rabinowitz |first6=Hannah |last7=Polantz |first7=Katelyn |date=August 1, 2023 |title=Donald Trump has been indicted in special counsel's 2020 election interference probe |language=en |publisher=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/politics/donald-trump-indictment-grand-jury-2020-election/index.html |access-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801220818/https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/politics/donald-trump-indictment-grand-jury-2020-election/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The indictment accused Trump of orchestrating a criminal conspiracy to subvert the 2020 election, and identified the fake electors scheme as part of the conspiracy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/01/us/politics/trump-indictment-charges-jan-6.html|title=Here Are the Charges Trump Faces in the Jan. 6 Case|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=1 August 2023|last=Savage|first=Charlie}}</ref>
On August 15, 2023, Trump and eighteen others [[Prosecution of Donald Trump in Georgia|were indicted]] in Georgia. The defendants, who included Trump, Giuliani, Eastman, Meadows, Chesebro, Sidney Powell, [[David Shafer (politician)|David Shafer]] and [[Shawn Still]] among others,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/15/fulton-county-trump-indictment-defendants-00111220|title=19 defendants: Here are all the people charged in the new Trump indictment|website=[[Politico]]|date=15 August 2023|first1=Erica|last1=Orden|first2=Kyle|last2=Cheney}}</ref> were charged with a variety of offenses, many of which related to involvement in the fake electors plot.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/14/indictment-document-trump-georgia/|title=Read the full text of the Trump Georgia indictment document|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=15 August 2023}}</ref> On October 20, Chesebro pleaded guilty to conspiring to file a false document and was sentenced to five years of probation; he also agreed to testify against the other defendants.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-20 |title=Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro pleads guilty over efforts to overturn Trump's 2020 loss in Georgia |url=https://apnews.com/article/chesebro-jury-selection-georgia-election-indictment-2e558eefdffd9c1eaa7ec8c31bf76044 |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> Three other defendants (including Powell) also pleaded guilty to charges not relating to the fake electors.
By December 2023, 24 fake electors had been criminally charged in three states, and Chesebro was "a witness in all of the cases".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hakim |first=Danny |date=December 8, 2023 |title=As More 'Fake Electors' Face Charges, a Key Witness Emerges |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/us/politics/chesebro-fake-electors-trump.html |access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref> However, in January 2024, the [[Attorney General of New Mexico]] stated that the fake electors couldn't be prosecuted given the laws of that state.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-05 |title=New Mexico attorney general says fake GOP electors can't be prosecuted, recommends changes |url=https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-fake-electors-9ec6f35313c6bbfe8f1ac65e8d5b323c |access-date=2024-01-06 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[2020 Georgia election investigation]]
* [[Michigan prosecution of fake electors]]
* [[Big lie#Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election|Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election]]
* [[Public hearings of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack]]
* [[Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (2020 election case)]]
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{January 6 United States Capitol attack navbox}}
{{Donald Trump}}
[[Category:2020 scandals]]
[[Category:Controversies of the 2020 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Trump administration controversies|Fake electors plot]]
[[Category:Donald Trump controversies|Fake electors plot]]
[[Category:Confidence tricks]]
[[Category:Electoral fraud in the United States]]
[[Category:Democratic backsliding in the United States]]
[[Category:Presidential scandals in the United States]]' |
