Democrat Arizona AG Kris Mayes’ Alternate Trump Electors Case in Jeopardy as Judge Allows Defendants to Argue Prosecution is Politically Motivated
News 4 Tucson KVOA-TV/Youtube
The Arizona alternate Trump electors case brought by Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes is in jeopardy after a judge allowed the defendants to argue the charges are politically motivated.
During a hearing on Monday Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen said he is open to listening to the defendants’ arguments to have the indictment thrown out under Arizona’s anti-SLAPP law which was recently expanded by the legislature to cover vindictive politically motivated charges.
Politico reported:
Allies of Donald Trump are using an unusual new Arizona law to urge a judge to throw out a criminal case charging them with fraudulently trying to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election result.
The law they’re citing was designed to stop prosecutors from bringing flimsy cases out of political animus. The defendants now trying to harness it include former Trump legal adviser John Eastman and other Trump confidants, as well as Arizona Republicans who falsely claimed that Trump won Arizona and held themselves out as the state’s legitimate electors in the Electoral College.
At an all-day hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday, Judge Bruce Cohen signaled openness to the defendants’ arguments for the charges to be tossed out under Arizona’s so-called anti-SLAPP law. If Cohen finds that the arguments have merit, he could order a further hearing to gather evidence about the defendants’ claims of political persecution.
Like many states, Arizona has long had on its books an anti-SLAPP law — which stands for “strategic lawsuits against public participation.” These laws are typically designed to discourage vindictive and frivolous civil lawsuits against people exercising their First Amendment rights. But in 2022, Arizona’s Legislature expanded the law’s purview to include protection from politically motivated criminal prosecutions as well. It is the only anti-SLAPP law in the United States to offer such protection.
Prosecutors working for Mayes told the judge that the defendants’ claims of politically motivated prosecution are wrong-headed and offensive. And they signaled that, if the case goes to trial, they plan to depict the defendants’ alleged crimes to jurors in exhaustive detail: They intend to call as many as 80 witnesses during a trial that could last three months.
In April Trump 2020 alternate electors, GOP state legislators, former Arizona GOP chairwoman Kelli Ward and others were indicted by a state grand jury in Arizona.
A total of 18 people involved in the Arizona alternate electors plan were indicted by the Arizona grand jury earlier this year.
Trump lawyers Christina Bobb, Jenna Ellis, Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman were all charged with felonies.
President Trump was named “Unindicted Coconspirator-1” in the indictment because he made a phone call about the ballot counting to former governor Doug Ducey.
Arizona’s Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes defended her witch hunt and the curious timing of the indictment – just months before the 2024 general election. Make no mistake, the charges are a warning shot to anyone who may want to challenge the 2024 election.
“We conducted a thorough and professional investigation over the past 13 months into the fake electors scheme in our state,” Arizona’s Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a video announcing the charges. “I understand for some of you today didn’t come fast enough. And I know I’ll be criticized by others for conducting this investigation at all. But as I’ve stated before, and we’ll say here again, today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined.”
It was reported earlier this month that former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis is cooperating with Arizona prosecutors in the Trump alternate electors case.
All nine felony charges against Jenna Ellis including fraud, forgery and conspiracy were dropped.
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