Attorney John Eastman pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud, and forgery charges related to his alleged involvement in challenging the 2020 presidential election results in Arizona. He denied all accusations and expressed confidence in being cleared of all charges.
Mr. Eastman was accused of devising a strategy to persuade Congress not to certify the election and was the first of 18 individuals charged in Arizona’s fake elector case to be arraigned. He maintained that he had no communication with the electors in Arizona and was not involved in any election litigation or legislative hearings in the state.
The indictment stated that Mr. Eastman encouraged Republican electors to vote and spread false claims of election fraud. He also reportedly met with Vice President Mike Pence to discuss rejecting Democratic electors during the electoral vote count on January 6, 2021.
The plan involving “fake electors” aimed to support President Trump by casting votes on December 14, 2020, in states where Joe Biden was declared the winner. Former President Trump, referred to as “unindicted co-conspirator 1” in the documents, was mentioned for spreading false claims of election fraud.
While charges have not been publicly announced against Rudy Giuliani, it is believed that he is one of the defendants in the case. Mark Meadows, former chief of staff for President Trump, is scheduled for arraignment on June 7.
In 2023, Mr. Eastman faced charges in Georgia for his alleged role in attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. He pleaded not guilty to those charges as well. Additionally, he was named as an indicted co-conspirator in a federal indictment filed against President Trump for working to overturn election results before the incident at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Arizona is the fourth state where individuals associated with President Trump have been indicted for challenging the 2020 election results. The Arizona Republican electors’ efforts to declare President Trump as the state’s winner were disregarded by Congress and the National Archives.
The 11 alleged “fake electors” from Arizona are facing multiple felony counts. One of them filed a lawsuit seeking to de-certify the election results, but the case was dismissed for lack of factual support. Efforts to serve notice to Rudy Giuliani have been unsuccessful so far.
Caden Pearson contributed to this report.
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