Michigan coup d’etat conspirators arraigned for posing as false electors

The 16 Michigan Republicans who served as fake electors in 2020 pleaded not guilty to the first-of-their-kind felony charges stemming from the Trump-backed election subversion plot.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced felony charges against the 16 state residents for posing as false electors following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as part of a scheme to cheat voters who elected President Joe Biden in what was clearly a multi-pronged attempt to stage a coup d’etat.

“The false electors’ actions undermined the public’s faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan,” said Nessel.

“My department has prosecuted numerous cases of election law violations throughout my tenure, and it would be malfeasance of the greatest magnitude if my department failed to act here in the face of overwhelming evidence of an organized effort to circumvent the lawfully cast ballots of millions of Michigan voters in a presidential election,” said Nessel.

Nine of the defendants were arraigned on the state charges last week at a virtual court hearing in Lansing, while seven other defendants already not guilty pleas.

The GOP activists were part of former President Donald Trump’s seven-state plan to subvert the Electoral College and overturn the 2020 election results by supplanting lawful Democratic electors with fake Republican electors.

Each of the fake electors was charged with eight state felonies, including forgery, conspiracy to commit election law forgery, and publishing a counterfeit record.

The defendants are alleged to have met covertly in the basement of the Michigan Republican Party headquarters on December 14th, and signed their names to multiple certificates stating they were the “duly elected and qualified electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America for the State of Michigan.”

Their false documents were then transmitted to the United States Senate and National Archives in a coordinated effort to award the state’s electoral votes to the candidate of their choosing, in place of the candidates actually elected by the people of Michigan.

Some of their defense attorneys have already said they’ll challenge the novel prosecution in an attempt to get the charges dropped but Nessel said, “The evidence will demonstrate there was no legal authority for the false electors to purport to act as ‘duly elected presidential electors’ and execute the false electoral documents.”

“Every serious challenge to the election had been denied, dismissed, or otherwise rejected by the time the false electors convened,” Nessel said. “There was no legitimate legal avenue or plausible use of such a document or an alternative slate of electors.”

“There was only the desperate effort of these defendants, who we have charged with deliberately attempting to interfere with and overturn our free and fair election process, and along with it, the will of millions of Michigan voters,” Nessel said. “That the effort failed and democracy prevailed does not erase the crimes of those who enacted the false electors plot.”

State judges in Ingham County District Court determined that they weren’t a danger to the community and didn’t pose a flight risk, so the defendants were each released on a $1,000 bond. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 18, where prosecutors will need to show probable cause of the crimes.

The court has scheduled the following future appearances: 

• Kathy Berden, 70, now residing in Tennessee, was arraigned on August 10th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• William (Hank) Choate, 72, of Cement City, was arraigned on August 1st, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th. 
• Amy Facchinello, 55, of Grand Blanc, was arraigned on August 10th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• Clifford Frost, 75, of Warren, was arraigned on August 10th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• Stanley Grot, 71, of Shelby Township, was arraigned on August 8th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• John Haggard, 82, of Charlevoix, was arraigned on August 10th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• Mari-Ann Henry, 65, of Brighton was arraigned on July 21st, and is scheduled to next appear for preliminary examination on October 12th. 
• Timothy King, 56, of Ypsilanti, was arraigned on August 10th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• Michele Lundgren, 73, of Detroit, was arraigned on August 10th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• Meshawn Maddock, 55, of Milford, was arraigned on July 25th, and is scheduled to next appear for preliminary examination on October 12th. 
• James Renner, 76, of Lansing, was arraigned on August 10th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• Mayra Rodriguez, 64, of Grosse Pointe Farms, was arraigned on August 10th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• Rose Rook, 81, of Paw Paw, was arraigned on August 8th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• Marian Sheridan, 69, of West Bloomfield, was arraigned on August 7th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• Ken Thompson, 68, of Orleans, was arraigned on August 10th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 
• Kent Vanderwood, 69, of Wyoming, was arraigned on August 4th, and is scheduled to next appear for a probable cause conference on August 18th and a preliminary exam on August 24th. 

Nessel said that the commission responsible for investigating attorneys’ misconduct has failed to properly pursue cases against lawyers who are facing criminal charges related to their alleged efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential election, which will potentially open the door to election chaos next year.

The Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission reviews allegations of professional misconduct against attorneys. It files formal complaints against lawyers with the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board, which can take a range of actions against attorneys such as suspension or disbarment.

Two Michigan lawyers facing criminal charges for their involvement in Trump’s alleged coup d’etat schemes in the 2020 election have so far not faced any disciplinary action.