A Nevada judge dismissed an indictment against six Republicans accused of submitting certificates to Congress falsely declaring Donald Trump the winner of the state’s 2020 presidential election. This decision potentially reduces the number of states with criminal charges against so-called fake electors from four to three.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford expressed his intention to appeal the ruling after Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus determined that Las Vegas was not the appropriate venue for the case.
The defense attorneys argued that bringing the case before another grand jury in a different venue would violate the statute of limitations that expired last December, effectively declaring the case dead.
The defendants, including prominent figures such as the state GOP chairman and county committee members, faced charges of offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument, which are felonies carrying significant prison sentences.
The defense contended that the alleged crimes took place in northern Nevada cities, and the case should have been brought before a grand jury in Carson City or Reno, rather than Las Vegas.
Despite the judge's decision to dismiss the indictment, the state Republican party welcomed the ruling and vowed to continue the legal battle through the appeals process.
Nevada is one of seven battleground states where fake electors falsely certified Trump as the winner in 2020. The case in Nevada focused on the actions of six defendants, while criminal cases in other states involve larger numbers of individuals.
Notably, a lawyer who pleaded guilty in Georgia last year for his involvement in the fake elector scheme cooperated with prosecutors in the Nevada investigation but was not charged.
The state's Secretary of State, a Republican, certified the election results in favor of Biden, leading to internal party conflicts and investigations into voter fraud allegations that yielded no credible evidence.
