Trump allies plead not guilty in Arizona 'fake electors' case
PHOENIX — Allies of former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Arizona on charges related to their involvement in a plan to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
The 11 people arraigned Tuesday include former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and so-called "fake electors" who signed documents claiming to be Arizona's Electoral College electors, even though now-President Joe Biden narrowly carried the state and Arizona certified his victory.
Others arraigned Tuesday were former Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward and her husband Michael Ward; state legislator Anthony Kern; Robert Montgomery, the former head of the Cochise County GOP; Republican Party activists Samuel Moorhead, Nancy Cottle and Loraine Pellegrino; Greg Safsten, the former Arizona GOP executive director; former Trump attorney Christina Bobb; and Tyler Bowyer, the Republican National Committee’s Arizona committeeman and the chief operating officer of the Trump-aligned Turning Point Action.
Giuliani, Bowyer, Cottle, Montgomery, Pellegrino and Bobb appeared virtually.
They were among 18 people charged last month by a state grand jury over the plan.
The accused "fake electors" and their alleged accomplices face charges of fraud, forgery and conspiracy, which were announced last month by state Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat.
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse after the Wards pleaded not guilty, their attorney Brad Miller said that "no crime has been defined by the Attorney General’s office," and claimed that, "[the case is] an issue of First Amendment."
Several of those charged in this Arizona case have also been arraigned on similar charges in Georgia, where prosecutors also allege that Trump allies tried to overturn the election there.
In recent weeks, every defendant but Giuliani had been served with their notices of indictment in this case. He even taunted Mayes in a now-deleted social media post, bragging about evading the charging documents.
He was finally served on Friday evening, during his 80th birthday party in Palm Beach, Florida.
“We found him essentially through his through his live streams. He’s not, not that hard to find,” Mayes told CNN on Monday.
“Our agents professionally served him after his birthday party, as the party was winding down," she added.
Another Trump ally indicted alongside those who were arraigned Tuesday is former Trump lawyer John Eastman. He pleaded not guilty in this case last week.
