Arizona's Democrat state Attorney General Kris Mayes has charged several former and current key aides of former US President Donald Trump over allegations that they attempted to overturn the 2020 election that unseated Trump and elected Joe Biden into the White House.
Included in those charged were former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Trump attorney John Eastman, and current Trump 2024 campaign team member Boris Epshteyn, CNN reported.
Mayes further announced that 11 other alleged fake electors would also be charged for their alleged role in subverting Biden's 2020 victory in the state, including then-Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward and other top Republican lawmakers and top officials of the Republican National Committee, according to the Associated Press.
The indictment alleged that the 11 Republicans met in Arizona in December 2020 and signed documents falsely claiming they were electors for the state.
Mayes said in a statement that all of the defendants' names would be unredacted when all of the defendants have been served.
Arizona became the fourth state to file criminal charges against "fake electors" who allegedly announced they were ready to pledge electoral votes to Donald Trump in their respective states in 2020 despite Biden's victory over them, ABC News reported.
At the House Jan. 6 Committee, former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers told lawmakers that he received calls from Trump and Giuliani following the election, allegedly saying that there was election fraud in the state.
"I was insistent that I had to have proof, real proof, judicial level," he testified. "That's the kind of proof I'm talking about. And the president said, 'Rudy, give the man what he wants.'"
He also told ABC News that Giuliani did not provide evidence for his claims.
