Current:Home > InvestMichigan fake elector defendants want case dropped due to attorney general’s comments-LoTradeCoin
Michigan fake elector defendants want case dropped due to attorney general’s comments
View Date:2024-12-23 23:54:57
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A second defendant accused in a fake elector scheme in Michigan is looking for criminal charges to be thrown out after the state attorney general said that the group of 16 Republicans “genuinely” believed former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election.
The 16 Michigan Republicans are facing eight criminal charges, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. Investigators say the group met following the 2020 election and signed a document falsely stating they were Michigan’s “duly elected and qualified electors.”
President Joe Biden won the state by nearly 155,000 votes, a result that was confirmed by a GOP-led state Senate investigation in 2021.
Two defendants in the case are now asking for charges to be thrown out after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told a liberal group during a Sept. 18 virtual event that the false electors had been “brainwashed” and “genuinely” believed Trump won in Michigan.
“They legit believe that,” said Nessel, a Democrat who announced criminal charges in the fake elector scheme in July.
Nessel also said in the video that Ingham County — where the hearings will be held and the jury will be selected from — is a “a very, very Democratic-leaning county.”
Kevin Kijewski, an attorney for the defendant Clifford Frost, said in a motion to dismiss filed Tuesday that Nessel’s comments are an “explicit and clear admission” that there wasn’t intent to defraud. Kijewski told The Associated Press that he expected the motion to be taken up at a previously scheduled Oct. 6 hearing.
An attorney for another accused fake elector, Mari-Ann Henry, also filed a motion to dismiss Tuesday and said the attorney general’s comment should “nullify the government’s entire case.”
Danny Wimmer, a spokesperson for Nessel’s office, said in response to a request for comment that the office “will respond to the motion in our filings with the Court.”
John Freeman, a former federal prosecutor who is now representing the defendant Marian Sheridan, told AP that Nessel’s comments left him “stunned” and called them “a gift for my client.” He said he still evaluating whether to file a motion to dismiss the charges.
The intent behind the defendants’ actions will be at the center of the case, said Tom Leonard, a former Michigan assistant attorney general He was also the Republican nominee for Michigan attorney general in 2018, losing to Nessel.
“I don’t think there’s any argument that the action was there. The question is: What did these defendants intend to do when they showed up and signed those documents?” Leonard said. “Nessel, the state’s chief law enforcement officer who put that pen to paper charging these defendants, has now openly said that the intent was not there.”
All 16 defendants have pleaded not guilty. Henry and several others, including former Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock, are scheduled to appear for a preliminary examination hearing on Oct. 12.
veryGood! (6)
Related
- 'SNL' stars jokingly declare support for Trump, Dana Carvey plays Elon Musk
- Fantasy football draft strategy: Where to attack each position in 2023
- 1 in 5 women report mistreatment from medical staff during pregnancy
- 'Portrait of a con man': Bishop Sycamore documentary casts brutal spotlight on Roy Johnson
- How to protect your Social Security number from the Dark Web
- Lawyers win access to files in New Hampshire youth detention center abuse case
- Serena Williams Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 2 With Alexis Ohanian
- NBA fines James Harden over comments that included calling 76ers' Daryl Morey 'a liar'
- Voyager 2 is the only craft to visit Uranus. Its findings may have misled us for 40 years.
- Attorney John Eastman surrenders to authorities on charges in Georgia 2020 election subversion case
Ranking
- 'Squid Game' creator lost '8 or 9' teeth making Season 1, explains Season 2 twist
- Tropical Storm Franklin nears Haiti and the Dominican Republic bringing fears of floods, landslides
- Will AI take over the world? How to stay relevant if it begins replacing jobs. Ask HR
- Thaksin moved from prison to a hospital less than a day after he returned to Thailand from exile
- Traveling to Las Vegas? Here Are the Best Black Friday Hotel Deals
- In deadly Maui fires, many had no warning and no way out. Those who dodged barricades survived
- Tropical Depression Harold's path as it moves through southern Texas
- See the nearly 100-year-old miracle house that survived the Lahaina wildfire and now sits on a block of ash
Recommendation
-
Women’s baseball players could soon have a league of their own again
-
Melissa Joan Hart Reveals She Was Almost Fired From Sabrina After Underwear Photoshoot
-
Replacing Tom Brady: Tampa Bay Buccaneers appoint Baker Mayfield as starting quarterback
-
Kerry Washington, Martin Sheen shout for solidarity between Hollywood strikers and other workers
-
Study finds Wisconsin voters approved a record number of school referenda
-
‘Get out of my house!’ Video shows 98-year-old mother of Kansas newspaper publisher upset amid raid
-
Citing appeals court, Georgia asks judge to reinstate ban on hormone therapy for transgender minors
-
Burger King gave candy to a worker who never called in sick. The internet gave $400k