ATLANTA (AP) — As Donald Trump seeks a return to the White House, prison prices are piling up for the individuals who tried to assist him keep there in 2020 by selling false theories of voter fraud.
At least 5 states that had been received in 2020 by President Joe Biden have investigated efforts to put in slates of electors who would forged Electoral College votes for Trump regardless of his loss. Those slates had been for use by Trump allies within the House and Senate to justify delaying or blocking the certification of the election in the course of the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, which was disrupted by pro-Trump rioters storming the Capitol.
Several of these charged or accused of involvement in election interference throughout the states are nonetheless concerned in Republican politics in the present day — together with the lawyer overseeing “election integrity” for the Republican National Committee. And Trump, who faces federal prices in Washington and state prices in Georgia for his efforts to overturn Biden’s win, regularly nonetheless claims the 2020 election was stolen, a falsehood echoed by lots of his supporters.
Here’s a have a look at the sprawling net of allegations, prison prices and references to folks in Trump’s orbit as unindicted co-conspirators.
DONALD TRUMP
The former president faces state prices in Georgia and federal prices in Washington over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and has been recognized as an unindicted co-conspirator by investigators in Arizona and Michigan.
The Georgia prices got here in a r acketeering indictment in Fulton County in August that accused Trump and 18 others of taking part in a wide-ranging scheme — that included the Republican elector effort — to illegally attempt to overturn his slim loss within the state.
Trump is the one one charged within the federal indictment in Washington, however a number of shut associates are recognizable as unindicted co-conspirators.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing his arguments that he must be immune from prosecution. He has clinched his third straight Republican nomination for president.
RUDY GIULIANI
Racketeering and conspiracy are among the many prices the former New York mayor and Trump-aligned lawyer faces in Georgia. In Arizona, the fees in opposition to him haven’t but been made public.
In Michigan, a state investigator has testified that Giuliani is amongst a number of high-profile unindicted co-conspirators in a case in opposition to Republicans who signed elector certificates falsely saying Trump had received the state.
He’s additionally an unindicted co-conspirator within the federal indictment in Washington, which cites feedback he made on the “Stop the Steal” rally previous to the Capitol riot.
His spokesman, Ted Goodman, stated in an announcement Thursday that the “continued weaponization of our justice system should concern every American as it does permanent, irrevocable harm to the country.”
CHRISTINA BOBB
Bobb is a lawyer and conservative media persona charged in Arizona with conspiracy, fraud and forgery. She labored carefully with Giuliani as he tried to steer Arizona lawmakers to dam the certification of the election outcomes. She later raised money for a discredited audit of the election leads to Maricopa County and lined the spectacle for One America News Network.
As a lawyer for Trump, Bobb signed a letter stating {that a} “diligent search” for categorised data had been carried out and that each one such paperwork had been given again to the federal government earlier than an FBI search revealed dozens of protected paperwork at his Mar-a-Lago residence.
She was just lately tapped to supervise “election integrity” efforts on the Republican National Committee.
Asked about Bobb’s position with the RNC, Trump marketing campaign spokesman Steven Cheung accused Democrats of “weaponization of the legal system.”
BORIS EPSHTEYN
A longtime Trump aide, Epshteyn was charged with conspiracy, fraud and forgery in Arizona, the place a grand jury accused him of aiding with the pretend electors plan.
He’s a lawyer who has been by Trump’s aspect for a few of the former president’s personal courtroom appearances, together with Thursday and Friday in New York.
Epshteyn was a principal surrogate within the 2016 presidential marketing campaign, making frequent tv appearances. He briefly served as a senior White House adviser earlier than changing into an analyst for Sinclair Broadcast Group.
MARK MEADOWS
Trump’s White House chief is charged within the sweeping Georgia racketeering indictment, however not in reference to the Republican elector assembly. Among different issues, he participated in a January 2021 telephone name between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger throughout which the then-president urged the elections official to assist “find” the votes wanted to overturn his slim loss within the state.
Meadows’ prices in Arizona aren’t publicly recognized. He was additionally recognized by the Michigan state investigator as an unindicted co-conspirator.
His lawyer, George Terwilliger, referred to Wednesday’s indictment in Arizona as a “blatantly political and politicized accusation and will be contested and defeated.”
Meadows now works for the Conservative Policy Institute, a Washington assume tank that describes his position as main “strategic initiatives on Capitol Hill, with other partner organizations, and with grassroots activists across the country.”
JOHN EASTMAN
A former dean of Chapman University’s legislation college in Southern California, Eastman wrote a memo arguing that Trump may stay in energy if then-Vice President Mike Pence overturned the outcomes of the electoral certification throughout a joint session of Congress utilizing the slates of Republican electors from the battleground states.
The prices in opposition to him in Georgia embody racketeering and conspiracy, whereas he’s charged in Arizona with conspiracy, fraud and forgery. He’s additionally named as an unindicted co-conspirator within the federal indictment, which quotes his remarks on the Jan. 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington.
He has pleaded not responsible to the fees in Georgia and his lawyer Charles Burnham stated he’s harmless of the fees in Arizona.
JENNA ELLIS
Ellis was charged within the Georgia indictment after she appeared with Giuliani at a December 2020 listening to hosted by state Republican lawmakers on the Georgia Capitol throughout which false allegations of election fraud had been made. She pleaded responsible in October to 1 felony rely of aiding and abetting false statements and writings after reaching a take care of prosecutors. She wasn’t charged in reference to the Republican electors efforts in Georgia.
It wasn’t instantly clear whether or not she had a lawyer in Arizona who may touch upon the conspiracy, fraud and forgery prices she faces there.
MICHAEL ROMAN
A Trump marketing campaign staffer and onetime White House aide, Roman was charged with a number of conspiracy counts associated to the Republican elector assembly and the submitting of the elector certificates in Georgia. He was additionally charged in Arizona with conspiracy, fraud and forgery.
Roman has pleaded not responsible to the fees in Georgia. It wasn’t instantly clear whether or not he had a lawyer in Arizona but.
KENNETH CHESEBRO
Chesebro, a lawyer, labored with Republicans in a number of swing states to coordinate and execute the Trump elector plan. He was charged with racketeering and a number of other conspiracy counts in relation to that work in Georgia and in October reached a take care of prosecutors to plead responsible to 1 felony cost of conspiracy to commit submitting false paperwork.
Chesebro is an unindicted co-conspirator in Trump’s federal election indictment, which says he “assisted in devising and attempting to implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.”
He was additionally named within the Wisconsin civil lawsuit, and when he turned over paperwork to settle that go well with he didn’t admit legal responsibility however promised by no means to take part in comparable efforts.
SIDNEY POWELL
A lawyer and unflinching Trump ally, Powell was charged with racketeering and conspiracy prices in Georgia however was not implicated within the elector scheme. The Fulton County indictment accused her of taking part in an unauthorized breach of elections tools in a rural Georgia county elections workplace. She pleaded responsible in October to 6 misdemeanors accusing her of conspiring to deliberately intrude with the efficiency of election duties after reaching a take care of prosecutors.
She’s an unindicted co-conspirator within the federal election interference case, the place prosecutors say she filed a lawsuit in Georgia that amplified false or unsupported claims of election fraud.
JEFFREY CLARK
Clark was a U.S. Justice Department official who championed Trump’s false claims of election fraud. He was charged in Georgia with racketeering and prison try and commit false statements and writings after he introduced colleagues with a draft letter pushing Georgia officers to convene a particular legislative session on the election outcomes.
He has pleaded not responsible to the fees in Georgia.
He was additionally one of many unindicted co-conspirators within the federal election indictment in opposition to Trump.
REPUBLICAN TRUMP ELECTORS
In addition to Arizona, prison prices have been filed in opposition to Republicans who introduced themselves as electors in Michigan, Georgia and Nevada. Wisconsin Republicans who signed elector certificates reached a settlement in a civil lawsuit, admitting their actions had been a part of an effort to overturn Biden’s victory. No prices have been filed in Pennsylvania or New Mexico, with the lawyer normal within the latter saying there’s no avenue for prosecution beneath state legislation.
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Associated Press author Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.
