Three Michigan electors are suing a slate of 16 Republicans, claiming they illegally plotted to replace “duly elected and qualified” electors to overthrow Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat in the state.
The fake electors are accused in the suit of a “fraudulent scheme to steal the election and install the losing candidate as President.” Michigan’s 16 real electoral votes were cast for Joe Biden. The fakes went for Trump.
The suit asks a judge to declare that the “fake elector scheme was illegal under Michigan law.” It “attempted to subvert the sacred right of qualified voters in Michigan, enshrined in the state Constitution, to have their votes counted,” the lawsuit states, according to the Detroit News.
Trump and his allies plotted to install fake Electoral College electors in Michigan and six other swing states that were won by Biden, according to the House Jan. 6 committee. The failed plot climaxed with the Capitol riot and is a central focus of the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal investigation.
The Michigan GOP electors violated multiple criminal laws, the lawsuit alleges, including state statutes against election law forgery, and obstructing or attempting to obstruct “any elector in the exercise” of their duties. The real electors “suffered humiliation, mental anguish and stress as a result of being cast in the false light created by defendants’ election fraud and lies,” states the lawsuit, which seeks at least $25,000 in damages.
One of the fake electors being sued, Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock, said at a conservative event a year ago that Trump’s campaign directed party members to rig the slate to declare Trump the winner.
One of the plaintiffs, Blake Mazurek, tweeted that the suit aims to “remedy ... the damage caused by the spurious electors” and “deter them from engaging in election fraud again.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said there was “absolutely” enough evidence to warrant charges against the Republicans who posed as electors when she referred the case a year ago to the Justice Department. She said Friday that she was reopening her investigation because the DOJ hasn’t responded, The Detroit Free Press reported.
Jack Smith, the special counsel leading the Justice Department’s investigation into interference in the 2020 presidential election, in November subpoenaed Michigan’s Wayne County election commission for records involving Trump and his campaign.
Other subpoenas went to the six other swing states won by Biden where Trump or his allies pressured officials to subvert the vote and float fake slates of pro-Trump electors.
There was no immediate response to the suit from the defendants. Some have reportedly said previously that they didn’t understand the documents they were directed to sign after the 2020 election.
Two Republicans in Arizona approached by Trump allies about the fake elector scheme feared it would be “treasonous,” according to emails obtained by The New York Times.