Prosecutors from Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office are currently investigating the submission of an alternate slate of electors to be included in Congress’ counting of electoral votes on January 6, 2021. Allies of former President Donald Trump are alleged to have created the slate.
Trump’s fake elector scheme was designed to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Mayes, a Democrat elected that same year, has vowed to conduct a thorough probe into efforts that took place in Arizona, where “alternate” electors signed paperwork claiming that Trump had one the state.
“We have to make sure that it’s clear to everyone it’s unacceptable to try to steal an election, to undermine and overthrow an election, and that’s what happened,” told Mayes to MSNBC. “We have to make sure what happened in 2020 never happens again.”
Investigators have had direct conversations with lawyers representing multiple people who acted as alternate electors, such as former Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward.
Mayes’ predecessor, Republican Mark Brnovich, oversaw agents as they spent more than 10,000 hours examining GOP claims of voting irregularities in Arizona. A summary prepared in September stated that investigators did not find any evidence suggesting voter fraud, though Brnovich did not release this information himself.
Since Mayes’ office announced its investigation, experts have been questioning if and when indictments will be doled out. The news comes as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis prepares to seek criminal charges for the same offense in Georgia.
Mayes’ probe was also launched just days before Trump received a target letter from special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating the broader electors scheme. The former president was notified on Tuesday that he is the subject of an inquiry into the events of January 6, 2021, when a group of Trump allies stormed the U.S. Capitol.
