Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows among the 7 indicted in Arizona but not yet named
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes' investigation of efforts to thwart Joe Biden's win here in 2020 and keep former President Donald Trump in the White House was one of the nation's most sweeping probes of that conduct.
A state grand jury this week indicted the 11 Republicans who signed documents falsely claiming they were "duly elected and qualified" electors for Trump. Also charged were seven Trump allies and lawyers who are accused of aiding in the scheme, several of whom are facing prosecution in other states that already have brought similar cases.
The Trump campaign aides' names were redacted from the indictment, as were the charges against them. But details included in the document, compared with information already in the public sphere about the scheme, helped identify those defendants. Unless noted below, lawyers for many of the seven were unable to be reached late Wednesday by The Arizona Republic or declined to comment.
Trump fake electors: Grand jury indicts fake electors who falsely certified Donald Trump as 2020 winner in Arizona
Based on the descriptions in the indictment, which are included below, the Trump allies who appear to have been indicted were:
Rudy Giuliani
The indictment says he is an attorney for Trump — identified as "unindicted coconspirator 1" — and often known as "the Mayor." Giuliani is a former mayor of New York City.
The document notes he led a meeting in downtown Phoenix on Nov. 30, 2020, that was rife with false claims that election officials weren't investigating whether the election result was accurate. And this defendant pressured Arizona lawmakers and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to "change the outcome of Arizona's election" as well as similar pressure in six other states, the indictment says.
John Eastman
Eastman was a Trump lawyer and an architect of the plan to change the outcome of the election in six contested states. The indictment identifies him in part through pressure he put on former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Mesa Republican, to decertify the state's legitimate electors. Bowers testified about denying that request before the congressional committee investigating Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
Randy Miller represents Eastman, but he had little to say Wednesday evening until he could have a longer conversation with his client. “Dr. Eastman does know, of course, but we haven’t had a chance to delve into it,” said Miller, who is representing Eastman in a California case that seeks to disbar him.
Boris Epshteyn
The indictment identifies this person as an attorney and adviser to the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns involved in the plan to submit false elector votes "to obstruct the certification process" during the Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress.
Epshteyn pleaded guilty in Scottsdale City Court to disorderly conduct and served probation after a woman and her sister accused him of repeatedly groping them inside a Scottsdale nightclub in 2021. The conviction was set aside by the court in January 2023.
Christina Bobb
An attorney for the Trump campaign who worked with Giuliani, the indictment says. She is a former One America News Network personality. The Attorney General's Office says she lobbied Republican legislators to "disregard the popular vote in Arizona." She also helped organize the fake electors vote in Arizona on Dec. 14, 2020, the indictment says.
Jenna Ellis
An attorney for the Trump campaign who worked with Giuliani, according to the indictment. "She made false claims of widespread election fraud in Arizona and six other states," the indictment says. She encouraged the Legislature to change the election's outcome and encouraged then-Vice President Mike Pence to accept the votes of Arizona's fake electors on Jan. 6, 2021, according to the indictment. Ellis pleaded guilty in a similar case brought by prosecutors in Georgia and agreed to a sentence of five years' probation.
Michael Roman
Roman was "the director of election day operations" for Trump's campaign. According to the indictment, he worked closely with others to arrange the false electors' votes in Arizona and other states. Roman is also charged in a similar case in Georgia.
Mark Meadows
Trump's chief of staff in 2020, this defendant worked with staffers on the Trump campaign to "coordinate and implement the false Republican electors' votes in Arizona and six other states," the indictment reads.
Meadows was held in contempt for not complying with a subpoena from the committee investigating what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, and was charged in a similar case in Georgia.
Who are the 11 fake electors indicted and named?
The Republicans who served as electors for Donald Trump in the 2020 election include powerful and influential GOP figures: a former Republican Party of Arizona chairman; a Republican national committeeman and executive at Turning Point USA and its political arm; and two sitting state senators — one of whom retains immense political power at the Arizona Capitol.
Kelli Ward, Tyler Bowyer, Nancy Cottle, Jacob Hoffman, Anthony Kern, James Lamon, Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Loraine Pellegrino, Gregory Safsten and Michael Ward were named in the indictment.
Reporters Mary Jo Pitzl and Ray Stern contributed to this article.
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at [email protected] or 480-416-5669.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows among 7 indicted in AZ but not yet named