Nevada prosecution of fake electors

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

State of Nevada v. Michael J. McDonald, et al. is a state criminal prosecution of participants in the Trump fake electors plot in Nevada. The six defendants were each indicted on two felony forgery charges related to documents that falsely claimed that Donald Trump won the state's electoral votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Nevada.[2][3] Among the accused are Michael J. McDonald, the chair of the Nevada Republican Party, and Clark County Republican chairman Jesse Law.[4]

On December 5, 2023, a grand jury issued the indictment.[5] All six defendants pleaded not guilty; the case is set to go to trial on January 13, 2025.[6] If convicted, they face between one and five years in prison.[5] On June 21, 2024, a judge dismissed the case on the grounds of jurisdiction, with prosecutors vowing to appeal.[7]

Background

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

Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, and carried the state of Nevada, defeating Republican nominee Donald Trump in the popular vote by 33,596 votes, and gaining all of the state's six electoral votes.[8] Trump and his allies, however, refused to accept the election results and launched an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to remain in power via subverting the election results.[9]

In 2022, during the investigation of the U.S. House select committee on the January 6 attack, Nevada GOP chair Michael J. McDonald and Nevada GOP secretary James DeGraffenreid were both subpoenaed on January 28 and deposed on February 24.[10][11]

In May 2023, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford testified that the fake electors would likely not be charged as he did not believe they had violated any specific law. However, in November 2023, it was reported that Ford was actively investigating individuals who had acted as fake electors.[12]

Indictment and arraignment

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On December 5, 2023, a Nevada grand jury in the District Court for Clark County issued an indictment charging six Nevada Republicans. The indictment stems from the sending of a document falsely ascertaining that Trump had won the state. Each of the six defendants was charged with two felony counts:[13]

  • Offering false instrument for file or record: Defendants "knowingly procured" and offered a false instrument to be "filed, registered, or recorded in a public office"
  • Uttering forged instruments: Defendants, with intent to "defraud, uttered, offered, and disposed", falsely put off an instrument as true

Nevada was the third state to bring charges in the fake elector scheme, after Georgia and Michigan. Arizona later became the fourth state to bring charges.[14] The defendants are:

The six defendants were arraigned on December 16, 2023; all pleaded not guilty.[15] Judge Mary Kay Holthus set the trial for March 11, 2024. This was later moved to January 13, 2025.[6]

Venue proceedings

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On June 21, 2024, the judge presiding over the case dismissed it on the basis that Clark County was the wrong venue to file the case as no elements of the alleged crime had occurred there; the casting of votes had occurred in Carson City and the documents were mailed from Douglas County.[16][17] Because the statute of limitations for the filing false instruments charges had expired in December 2023, state prosecutors would not be able to initiate a new case on those charges in another jurisdiction, although the forgery charges have a statute of limitations that is one year longer.[16][18]

The Nevada's attorney general filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Nevada on July 26.[19][20]

References

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  1. ^ "indictment - Attorney General - State of Nevada" (PDF). December 6, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  2. ^ Gardner, Amy; Wingett Sanchez, Yvonne (December 6, 2023). "Pro-Trump electors indicted in Nevada, the third state to issue charges". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "6 'fake electors' for Trump are indicted in Nevada". NPR. December 6, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  4. ^ Leingang, Rachel (December 6, 2023). "Six Nevada Republicans charged with casting fake electoral votes in 2020". The Guardian. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Durkee, Alison (December 5, 2023). "'Fake' Pro-Trump Electors Indicted In Nevada". Forbes. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Ritter, Ken (March 4, 2024). "Nevada fake electors won't stand trial until January 2025 under judge's new schedule". The Associated Press. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  7. ^ Hakim, Danny; Healy, Jack (June 21, 2024). "Nevada Judge Throws Out State's Case Against Fake Electors". The New York Times. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  8. ^ Renshaw, Jarrett (February 4, 2024). "Biden courts Nevada voters after narrow 2020 win". Reuters. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  9. ^ Broadwater, Luke; Haberman, Maggie (March 4, 2024). "Newly Released Messages Detail Roots of the 'Fake Electors' Scheme". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  10. ^ Nobles, Ryan; Cohen, Marshall; Cohen, Zachary; Grayer, Annie (January 28, 2022). "January 6 committee subpoenas individuals tied to fake elector push". CNN. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  11. ^ "Select Committee subpoenas "alternate electors" from seven states". webharvest.gov archive of january6th.house.gov. January 6 Committee. January 28, 2022. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  12. ^ Woodruff Swan, Betsy (November 15, 2023). "Nevada attorney general is investigating false electors who aided Trump in 2020". Politico. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  13. ^ Korecki, Natasha (December 6, 2023). "Nevada grand jury indicts 'fake electors' who backed Trump in 2020". NBC News. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  14. ^ Brangham, William; Schmitz, Ali (December 7, 2023). "Nevada charges pro-Trump fake electors accused of attempting to overturn 2020 election". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  15. ^ Cohen, Marshall (December 18, 2023). "Nevada fake electors plead not guilty to state charges; trial set for March". CNN. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Judge dismisses Nevada fake electors case over lack of jurisdiction". The Nevada Independent. June 21, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  17. ^ Markus, Nicole; Marley, Patrick (June 21, 2024). "Nevada judge dismisses case against Trump electors, citing jurisdiction". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  18. ^ Gentry, Dana (June 24, 2024). "Appeal not Nevada attorney general's only option for pursuing fake electors". Nevada Current. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  19. ^ Yamat, Rio (July 27, 2024). "Nevada attorney general appeals to state high court in effort to revive fake electors case". AP News. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  20. ^ Birenbaum, Gabby (July 26, 2024). "AG appeals Nevada fake electors case to state Supreme Court". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
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