On Tuesday, a Michigan judge dismissed the case against 15 individuals accused of being “fake electors” for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Judge Kristen Simmons said she found insufficient evidence to prove the defendants acted with criminal intent.
“This is a fraud case, and we have to prove intent, and I don’t believe that there’s sufficient evidence to prove intent,” she said during the Tuesday hearing.
“I believe that they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress, and that’s based on the statements of all of the people’s witnesses,” said the judge. “For those reasons, these cases will not be bound over to the circuit court. Each case will be dismissed.”
In July 2023, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) announced felony charges for 16 Republican Michiganders “for their role in the alleged false electors scheme following the 2020 U.S. presidential election.” One of whom later cooperated with the prosecution and had his charges dropped — with forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. (RELATED: Michigan AG Announces Felony Charges Against 16 Residents For Participating In Alleged False Electors Scheme)
The charges stemmed from a meeting on Dec. 14, 2020, where the group allegedly met “covertly” and signed certificates falsely claiming they were the state’s duly elected electors in an effort to re-elect Trump. (RELATED: Michigan AG Announces Felony Charges Against 16 Residents For Participating In Alleged False Electors Scheme
During the hearing, Judge Simmons said the prosecution failed to establish that the electors intended to defraud anyone.
“This is not an election interference case,” she said.
“The prosecution would like the court to believe that these named defendants were savvy or sophisticated enough to fully understand the electoral process — which the court does disagree because the document that was presented doesn’t even align with the level of sophistication that they want me to believe,” Judge Simmons said.
“There’s many things that could cause a pause in the electoral process, and it doesn’t mean that it’s criminal,” said the judge.
