IN FOCUS - Apr 26, 2024

The Arizona Capitol community was rocked this week when a state grand jury handed down a nine-count criminal indictment against 11 so-called fake electors, including state Sens. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) and Anthony Kern (R-Glendale).

Others indicted and facing felony charges of conspiracy, fraud and forgery include former Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward and her husband, Michael; former U.S. Senate candidate Jim Lamon; former Arizona GOP Executive Director Greg Safsten; Turning Point USA executive Tyler Bowyer; and GOP activists Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Nancy Cottle and Loraine Pellegrino. The indictment includes seven additional defendants - five named and two who remain unnamed. The individuals span far beyond Arizona to include a veritable who’s-who list of Trump World senior advisers, attorneys and operatives.

With the news, Arizona becomes the fourth state to pursue charges against individuals involved in an effort to, as the indictment states, “prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency.”

Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes has made the investigation a priority since entering office last year, a fact that Republican critics noted as they blast the charges as politically-motivated. Sen. Hoffman issued a statement in which he said he looks forward “to the day when I am vindicated of this naked political persecution.”

Attorney General Mayes, however, said her prosecution will move forward.

“Whatever their reasoning was, the plot to violate the law must be answered for, and I was elected to uphold the law of this state,” she said as part of a video announcing the indictment. “The scheme, had it succeeded, would have deprived Arizona’s voters of their right to have their votes counted for their chosen president.”