Nevada ‘fake electors’ case to continue amid Trump re-election, attorney general says: ‘This is not going away’

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Nevada Attorney General’s Office will continue its case against six Republicans who submitted fake electoral certificates claiming former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election amid the former president’s re-election, 8 News Now has learned.

In December 2020, the six so-called “fake electors” signed paperwork signaling their support for Trump in a symbolic ceremony devoid of any legal merit. The group then mailed the certificates to Washington.

In the days after and in filings since, the six Republican electors said they filed the certificates due to the then-ongoing legal battles from the Trump campaign. However, in mid-December 2020, no legal case remained open in Nevada. The Nevada Supreme Court ruled against the Trump campaign on Dec. 8, 2020, six days before the Dec. 14 ceremony. However, lawyers claim the U.S. Supreme Court had yet to weigh in, though the panel ultimately did not.

Last year, a Clark County grand jury indicted the six — Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald, Clark County party chairman Jesse Law, Jim DeGraffenreid, Durward James Hindle III, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice — on charges of offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument, felonies that carry penalties of up to four or five years in prison.

In June, Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus dismissed the case, saying she had no jurisdiction over the matter. Attorneys for the six Republicans had said Democratic Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford improperly indicted their clients in Clark County instead of northern Nevada, adding there was no intent to commit a crime.

Following Holthus’ ruling, the attorney general’s office appealed to the state supreme court. In their response, attorneys for the six said the state lacks any jurisdiction on the federal matter.

“My office’s goal remains unchanged — we will hold these fake electors accountable for their actions which contributed to the ongoing and completely unfounded current of distrust in our electoral system,” Ford said in a statement to 8 News Now on Thursday. “Our drive to seek justice does not change with election results. We are committed to see this matter through, either through winning our appeal or filing anew before the new year. This is not going away.”

Nevada law requires the secretary of state to oversee the certification of the state’s electoral certificates. Then-Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, oversaw the official certification process on the same day as the Republican signing for Trump.

Last year, Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed Senate Bill 133, which lawmakers 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.

While testifying in favor of that bill before the Assembly Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections, Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford said no Nevada law allowed him to take possible action.

President Joe Biden won the 2020 election in Nevada by about 33,000 votes. Trump won re-election by more than 46,000 votes.

The high court had not scheduled a date as of Thursday to hear the appeal.

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