In a major win for the rule of law, a Michigan judge dismissed Democrat-backed lawfare waged against the state’s 2020 Republican electors on Tuesday, citing a lack of evidence for the charges.
“This is a fraud case, and we have to prove intent,” District Judge Kristen Simmons reportedly said during a Tuesday court hearing. “And I don’t believe there’s evidence sufficient to prove intent.”
According to the Washington Examiner, “The Michigan case began in 2023, when Michigan’s Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel brought charges against [15 state Republicans] who were alleged to have tried to replace the state’s electoral votes for former President Joe Biden with those of [Donald] Trump. All pleaded not guilty.”
The defendants “faced charges of forgery and conspiracy to commit forgery” and “faced 14 years in prison if convicted,” the outlet added. As a result of Simmons’ ruling, the case will not head to trial.
Nessel’s team is “evaluating” whether to appeal the decision, according to left-wing NPR.
While brought by left-wing prosecutors in several 2020 battleground states, the often-cited Democrat claim of there being “fake” Trump electors during the contest’s aftermath is legally dubious at best.
As The Federalist’s Margot Cleveland previously reported, the process conducted in contested states such as Georgia parallel a similar endeavor that took place during the 1960 presidential election between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
As noted by Cleveland, Kennedy and Nixon electors cast their votes for their respective candidates when a disagreement arose over who won Hawaii’s electoral votes. While the state’s acting governor certified the election for Nixon initially, a legal challenge eventually resulted in Kennedy receiving the electoral votes.
Had courts ruled in Trump’s favor in lawsuits disputing the election results in battleground states, the alternate electors would have been in place to ensure the will of the people was exercised, as demonstrated in the Nixon-Kennedy case.
Tuesday’s Michigan decision is the latest in a string of setbacks for Democrat prosecutors seeking to jail Republicans for their role as alternate electors in the 2020 contest.
In June 2024, a Nevada judge tossed Democrat Attorney General Aaron Ford’s case against the Silver State’s 2020 Trump electors after determining prosecutors selected the wrong jurisdiction (unsurprisingly, a Democrat stronghold) for their case. A hearing on the matter was held last month at the Nevada Supreme Court, which is expected to decide whether the “lower court’s dismissal of forgery charges should be overturned,” according to The Nevada Independent.
In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis‘ lawfare against the Peach State’s 2020 Trump electors has been crumbling following revelations of alleged misconduct by her and her team last year. Meanwhile, in Arizona, a state judge sent Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes’ “so-called ‘fake elector’ case back to a grand jury,” further delaying the case, according to NPR.
Charges brought by Democrat Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul against several Trump allies for their roles in Wisconsin’s 2020 alternate electors situation remain pending.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
