Details Emerge About Fake Trump Electors Plot

According to e-mails and recordings of Trumpist co-conspirator Kenneth Chesebro in interviews with Michigan investigators, Trump and his loyalists organized a scheme to get fake elector slates to the Capitol on January 6 to overturn the election results. From CNN:

"Two days before the January 6 insurrection, the Trump campaign’s plan to use fake electors to block President-elect Joe Biden from taking office faced a potentially crippling hiccup: The fake elector certificates from two critical battleground states were stuck in the mail.

So, Trump campaign operatives scrambled to fly copies of the phony certificates from Michigan and Wisconsin to the nation’s capital, relying on a haphazard chain of couriers, as well as help from two Republicans in Congress, to try to get the documents to then-Vice President Mike Pence while he presided over the Electoral College certification.

The operatives even considered chartering a jet to ensure the files reached Washington, DC, in time for the January 6, 2021, proceeding, according to emails and recordings obtained by CNN.

The new details provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the chaotic last-minute effort to keep Donald Trump in office. The fake electors scheme features prominently in special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal indictment against the former president, and some of the officials who were involved have spoken to Smith’s investigators.

The emails and recordings also indicate that a top Trump campaign lawyer was part of 11th-hour discussions about delivering the fake elector certificates to Pence, potentially undercutting his testimony to the House select committee that investigated January 6 that he had passed off responsibility and didn’t want to put the former vice president in a difficult spot.

These details largely come from pro-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who was an architect of the fake electors plot and is now a key cooperator in several state probes into the scheme. Chesebro pleaded guilty in October to a felony conspiracy charge in Georgia in connection with the electors’ plan, and has met with prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, who are investigating the sham GOP electors in their own states."  (our emphasis)

The story goes on to say that none other than Wisconsin's disgraceful, Putin-loving Sen. Ron Johnson (Sedition - WI) and "a Pennsylvania congressman" << cough >> Scott Perry << cough >> helped facilitate the effort to get the fake electors documents into Pence's hands on January 6. 

Special Counsel Jack Smith is coordinating with state investigations of the plot to defraud the public, including in Georgia, Michigan and Nevada. Chesebro's cooperation with authorities will help Smith's January 6 case significantly.

(illustration: via americanoversight.org)

 

Battleground Fake Electors Update

 

Well, On Wisconsin!

Ten Republicans who posed as fake electors for former President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and filed paperwork falsely saying he had won the battleground state have settled a civil lawsuit and admitted their actions were part of an effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory, attorneys who filed the case announced Wednesday.

Under the agreement, the fake electors acknowledged that Biden won the state, withdrew their filings and agreed not to serve as presidential electors in 2024 or any other election where Trump is on the ballot.

The 10 fake electors agreed to send a statement to the government offices that received the Electoral College votes saying that their actions were “part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results.”

The settlement marks the first time that any Trump electors have revoked their filings sent to Congress purporting that Trump had won in seven battleground states. Nevada on Wednesday became the third state to criminally charge fake electors, following Georgia and Michigan. Trump faces charges in Georgia and in a federal investigation of his conduct related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.  [snip]

Under the settlement, the 10 fake electors promised to assist the Department of Justice with its ongoing investigation. They also agreed to help the Democrats as they continue their lawsuit against [Trump's Wisconsin attorney Jim] Troupis and [Trump fake electors attorney Kenneth] Chesebro... (our emphasis)

Speaking of Nevada --

A Nevada grand jury has indicted the six Republicans — including the chair of the Nevada Republican Party — who falsely pledged Nevada’s electoral votes to Donald Trump following the 2020 election despite President Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, announced the indictments Wednesday of state party chair Michael McDonald, national committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid, Clark County Republican Party chair Jesse Law (who announced plans to run for state Assembly on Wednesday), state party vice chair Jim Hindle III, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice. 

In a press release, the attorney general’s office said all six individuals had been indicted on two felony charges — offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument by submitting fraudulent documents to state and federal officials. The charges carry penalties of category C and D felonies, respectively, with punishments up to a maximum of four and five years in prison and a minimum of one year in prison. A grand jury in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County indicted the six Republicans.

“When the efforts to undermine faith in our democracy began after the 2020 election, I made it clear that I would do everything in my power to defend the institutions of our nation and our state,” Ford said in a statement. “We cannot allow attacks on democracy to go unchallenged. Today’s indictments are the product of a long and thorough investigation, and as we pursue this prosecution, I am confident that our judicial system will see justice done.”...  (our emphasis)

Not to mention Arizona --

Last week, a key figure in the 2020 fake elector scheme traveled to Nevada, where this week, six fake electors were indicted.

Trump-aligned lawyer Kenneth Chesebro wrote memos detailing how Republicans could send false slates of presidential electors to Congress in an attempt to give Donald Trump the win or at least delay the Jan. 6, 2021, certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

And on Monday, Chesebro is scheduled to travel to Arizona to meet with investigators from Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office, according to the Washington Post’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez.

Meanwhile in Wisconsin, 10 fake electors settled a civillawsuit this week, admitting their actions were part of a scheme to overturn Biden’s victory.

I picture Arizona’s fake electors, breathing deeply into paper bags... (our emphasis)

With Fani Willis' Malignant Loser RICO trial in Georgia and the actions taken in Wisconsin and Michigan, the broader fake electors scheme to un- Constitutionally keep the Malignant Loser in office is being systematically exposed and the participants, up to and (eventually) including the Malignant Loser himself, are facing consequences for their felonious activities.  Lots of people will be breathing deeply into paper bags from now on.

(Photo:  10 Wisconsin fake electors meeting on December 14, 2020 / Dane County Circuit Court)

The Chesebro Fake Electors Memo

 

A December 6, 2020, memo from Malignant Loser consigliere Kenneth Chesebro (a.k.a. Conspirator #5), in the possession of Special Counsel Jack Smith and now the New York Times, is a smoking gun in an arsenal of smoking guns the Special Counsel has access to in his case proving a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. Here's a lengthy excerpt from the Times' reporting:

A lawyer allied with President Donald J. Trump first laid out a plot to use false slates of electors to subvert the 2020 election in a previously unknown internal campaign memo that prosecutors are portraying as a crucial link in how the Trump team’s efforts evolved into a criminal conspiracy.

The existence of the Dec. 6, 2020, memo came to light in last week’s indictment of Mr. Trump, though its details remained unclear. But a copy obtained by The New York Times shows for the first time that the lawyer, Kenneth Chesebro, acknowledged from the start that he was proposing “a bold, controversial strategy” that the Supreme Court “likely” would reject in the end.

But even if the plan did not ultimately pass legal muster at the highest level, Mr. Chesebro argued that it would achieve two goals. It would focus attention on claims of voter fraud and “buy the Trump campaign more time to win litigation that would deprive Biden of electoral votes and/or add to Trump’s column.”

The memo had been a missing piece in the public record of how Mr. Trump’s allies developed their strategy to overturn Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory. In mid-December, the false Trump electors could go through the motions of voting as if they had the authority to do so. Then, on Jan. 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence could unilaterally count those slates of votes, rather than the official and certified ones for Mr. Biden.

While that basic plan itself was already known, the document, described by prosecutors as the “fraudulent elector memo,” provides new details about how it originated and was discussed behind the scenes. Among those details is Mr. Chesebro’s proposed “messaging” strategy to explain why pro-Trump electors were meeting in states where Mr. Biden was declared the winner. The campaign would present that step as “a routine measure that is necessary to ensure” that the correct electoral slate could be counted by Congress if courts or legislatures later concluded that Mr. Trump had actually won the states.  [snip]

But the indictment portrayed the Dec. 6 memo as a “sharp departure” from that proposal, becoming what prosecutors say was a criminal plot to engineer “a fake controversy that would derail the proper certification of Biden as president-elect.”

“I recognize that what I suggest is a bold, controversial strategy, and that there are many reasons why it might not end up being executed on Jan. 6,” Mr. Chesebro wrote. “But as long as it is one possible option, to preserve it as a possibility it is important that the Trump-Pence electors cast their electoral votes on Dec. 14.”

Three days later, Mr. Chesebro drew up specific instructions to create fraudulent electors in multiple states — in another memo whose existence, along with the one in November, was first reported by The Times last year. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot also cited them in its December report, but it apparently did not learn of the Dec. 6 memo.

“I believe that what can be achieved on Jan. 6 is not simply to keep Biden below 270 electoral votes,” Mr. Chesebro wrote in the newly disclosed memo. “It seems feasible that the vote count can be conducted so that at no point will Trump be behind in the electoral vote count unless and until Biden can obtain a favorable decision from the Supreme Court upholding the Electoral Count Act as constitutional, or otherwise recognizing the power of Congress (and not the president of the Senate) to count the votes.”...

The anti- democracy, un- American chicanery exhibited in the memo is breathtaking, to say the least. As the article suggests, the existence of such a written "plan" was surmised, but not a reality until the Special Counsel obtained it.  Delaying the process, rigging the Senate vote count, pressuring Republicans to put forth fake electors in states controlled by Republicans -- all after courts had soundly rejected 60- plus claims of voter fraud by the Malignant Loser's coup clowns, to keep an election loser in office illegitimately. And because of the Malignant Loser's inability to keep his fat mouth shut, this was largely done out in the open.

All the more reason the trials need to be open and televised.

 

"Fake Electors Scheme" Grand Jury Moving Ahead

 

The other grand jury Special Counsel Jack Smith is overseeing is looking into the Malignant Loser's attempted coup on January 6, 2021, including his "fake electors" scheme.  That activity is moving ahead with all deliberate speed:

With Donald Trump set to appear in Miami for one set of federal charges, back in Washington, another grand jury investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and Trump’s efforts to stay in office is also moving ahead in full force. 

Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald, a close Trump political ally, as well as Jim DeGraffenreid, the state party’s vice chair, were spotted by NBC News entering the area where the Jan. 6 jury is meeting at the Washington federal courthouse Tuesday.

When asked about having to appear the same day as Trump’s court date, McDonald joked to an NBC News reporter: “Not on my bucket list.” McDonald had previously confirmed to NBC News that federal authorities seized his cellphone as part of the investigation. 

The appearance comes a week after former Trump White House official Steve Bannon was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in Washington in connection with special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Jan. 6. The Bannon subpoena, for documents and testimony, was sent out late last month, the sources said.

In addition, at least one former Trump White House aide testified on June 1 before the grand jury, hearing evidence about the former president in its ongoing investigation surrounding the election, according to a source familiar with the appearance. The testimony focused on Trump's firing of Christopher Krebs in 2020. At the time, Krebs led the federal government’s election cybersecurity efforts and debunked false claims of election fraud and hacking.  [snip]

McDonald has a close personal friendship with Trump, and in recent months, he had visited Mar-a-Lago as part of a Nevada delegation Trump was courting for endorsements. McDonald had testified before the Jan. 6 Select Committee, where he invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 200 times.

Both McDonald and DeGraffenreid served as so-called fake electors, slates of electors who in most cases signed certification documents purporting that Trump had won in their states even though he had lost. 

With the rogues gallery of Malignant Loser coup plotters involved (Bannon, Rudy "Toot Toot" Giuliani, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Ginni Thomas, etc.), this investigation has an even more crazy town vibe to it than the classified documents investigation and indictment.  Because the scheme also involved MAGAts like McDonald and DeGraffenreid in seven closely contested states, the Special Counsel will be looking to get as many plotters as possible to cooperate in order to provide a clear evidentiary trail leading directly to the Malignant Loser and the rest of the coup cabal.  Without doubt, this is going to be a complex, difficult case to bring to trial, but we have faith in the grand jury, the Special Counsel and his team to get the job done.

(Image:  via AmericanOversight.org)

Raids And Subpoenas Fly

Attorney General Garland's Justice Department is going after Republican officials involved in the bogus electors conspiracy:

Nevada

FBI agents served a search warrant Wednesday on Nevada’s top GOP official, sources told the 8 News Now I-Team’s George Knapp.

Agents seized the cell phone of state Republican chairman Michael McDonald, reportedly as part of an investigation into the fake elector scheme initiated at the end of the 2020 presidential election.

A second search warrant was issued for state party secretary James DeGraffenreid, who also signed the document, but FBI agents could not locate him Wednesday, sources told Knapp.

Georgia

Federal investigators subpoenaed the Georgia Republican Party chairman for information related to the fake elector scheme there -- as the Justice Department has issued a fresh round of subpoenas to people from several states who acted as rogue electors after the 2020 presidential election, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN.

The subpoena for the chairman, David Shafer, represents a significant step because he played a central role in organizing the fake slate of electors from Georgia and coordinated the effort with the Trump campaign.

Arizona

Kelli Ward, the head of the Arizona Republican Party, and her husband, Michael, received grand jury subpoenas from the Department of Justice regarding their involvement in a scheme to send fake electors to Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

The subpoena for the Wards first was reported by the website Politico, which cited an unnamed source it said was familiar with the matter.

There have been reports that subpoenas have also been issued for Republicans involved in the bogus elector plot in Michigan and Pennsylvania as well.

Incompetent Malignant Loser sycophant Jeffrey Clark was also the target of an FBI raid in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, where they confiscated his "electronic devices."  

Let's pause again for a moment to note that the much- maligned Garland Justice Department had a Grand Jury empaneled when nearly everyone was going batshit thinking that they weren't doing anything.  Well, for anyone who's not familiar with major Federal racketeering prosecutions, the DOJ doesn't inform the media and the public of the existence of a special Grand Jury or of its plans and progress.  That's how they run effective and successful prosecutions.  Everyone take a breath.