LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Six Republicans accused of taking part in submitting fake electoral certificates that claimed President Donald Trump won the 2020 election have been indicted on multiple charges, according to a Wednesday announcement from Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford.
The indictments name Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald, Jesse Law, Jim DeGraffenreid, Durward James Hindle III, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice.
The incident played out in December of 2020 after President Joe Biden won the election over Donald Trump.
As the 8 News Now Investigators reported in December 2021, the certificate sent by Nevada Republicans and received by the National Archives looks much different than the official state-sealed one and reads, “We, the undersigned, being the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America from the State of Nevada, do hereby certify six electoral votes for Trump.”
The charges filed against the so-called “fake electors” are:
- Offering a False Instrument for Filing, a category C felony
- Uttering a Forged Instrument, a category D felony
In a Sept. 20 interview with 8 News Now, Ford confirmed that prosecution was still possible, despite the absence of state laws “that directly address the issue.”
In announcing the indictments, Ford’s office said the Republicans offered “a false instrument titled ‘Certificate of the Votes of the 2020 Electors from Nevada’ to the President of the Senate; the Archivist of the United States; the Nevada Secretary of State; and the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.”
“The six Nevadans were signatories of documents in which they posed as the duly qualified electors for the state of Nevada in an effort to disrupt the results of a free and fair presidential election,” a news release from Ford’s office said.
That action is the basis of the indictments filed on Wednesday in Nevada.
Also on Wednesday, 10 Republicans in Wisconsin announced that they had settled a civil lawsuit there in another fake electors case. The Republicans acknowledged that President Joe Biden won the election in Wisconsin and agreed no to serve as presidential electors in 2024 or any other election where Trump is on the ballot, according to an Associated Press report.
Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed a bill (Senate Bill 133) approved during the 2023 Nevada Legislature that would have established penalties for the fake electors’ actions. Lombardo defended the sanctity of elections, but said the penalties in the bill were out of scale.
