In a significant development, a Republican activist in Arizona has become the first person to be convicted in the state's fake elector case. The activist, a former president of Ahwatukee Republican Women, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false document. This document falsely claimed that Donald Trump had won Arizona in the 2020 election.
Following her guilty plea, the activist was sentenced to unsupervised probation. Prior to this plea, she had faced nine felony charges. The case involved a total of 17 individuals, including 10 other Republicans who had signed a certificate falsely asserting that Trump had carried Arizona in the election, despite President Joe Biden winning the state by over 10,000 votes.
The activist's attorney stated that she has accepted responsibility for her actions and opted to plead to a lesser charge in order to move forward and put the matter behind her. Meanwhile, former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis has entered a cooperation agreement with prosecutors, with a request for her charges to be dismissed.
Notably, the remaining defendants, including Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, fraud, and forgery. The case stemmed from a meeting in December 2020 where the activist and others signed the false document, which was later sent to Congress and the National Archives.
Prosecutors in several other states, including Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, and Wisconsin, have also filed criminal charges related to similar fake elector schemes. While Trump himself was not charged in the Arizona case, he was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator in the indictment.
