The Arizona grand jury charged 18 Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump who falsely claimed to have won the state in the 2020 election wanted to consider charging Trump as well, but prosecutors asked not to, according to court documents filed this week.
Court records filed by Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office contain exchanges between prosecutors and the grand jury, which heard 18 days of testimony.
As a grand jury they consider possible costs, prosecutors asked not to indict Trump, citing a U.S. Justice Department policy that limits prosecuting people for the same crime twice, and made a PowerPoint presentation about the policy. Prosecutors, who were not identified in the records, also did not know whether authorities had all the evidence they needed to indict Trump at the time.
“I know that can be disappointing for some of you,” the prosecutor said. “I understand.”
In the end, the grand jury 18 people were charged on forgery, fraud and conspiracy charges, including 11 Republicans who submitted false documents claiming Trump had won Arizona, five lawyers connected to Trump and two former Trump aides.
Although Trump was not charged in the Arizona case, the indictment refers to him as an “unindicted conspirator.” The former president charged in a federal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith with a plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Jason Lamm, a former prosecutor who now works as a criminal defense attorney in Phoenix, said Mayes’ office is not bound by U.S. Justice Department policy.
“It’s a choice, rather than an obligation,” said Lamm of prosecutors who asked the grand jury not to indict Trump.
Lamm, who does not represent any of the defendants in the case, said that if Trump had been indicted and Mayes’ office did not want to prosecute him, “there would be an alternative way to dispose of the case rather than potentially violating the jury’s autonomy.”
A filing by Arizona prosecutors also said they are asking a grand jury not to indict a group of Republican state lawmakers for signing a document asking Vice President Mike Pence to accept Arizona’s fake electoral college certificate.
When the grand jury asked about the indictment of 22 sitting Republican lawmakers and eight others who had won elections but had not yet taken office, prosecutors were cautious when talking about proving intent to deceive all lawmakers who signed the documents.
Earlier this week, Jenna Ellis’ attorney signed an agreement with Arizona prosecutors that will drop the charges against her in exchange for her cooperation. He pleaded guilty in Georgia last year to felony charges for trying to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat in the state.
Also, Republican activist Loraine Pellegrino, who signed the document falsely claiming that Trump had won Arizona, was the first person to be punished in the case of false voters of the state. Prosecutors said he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false document.
The remaining defendants, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, have pleaded not guilty.
Eleven people who have been nominated to be the electors of the Arizona Republic have met in Phoenix on December 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying that they are “elected and qualified” and claim that Trump has carried the country in the 2020 election. President Joe Biden won Arizona with 10,457 voice. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The documents were then sent to Congress and the National Archives, which ignored them.
Prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin have also filed criminal charges related to the fake voter scheme. Arizona authorities announced the felony charges in late April.
Grand jury subpoenas are contained in documents in which prosecutors respond to requests by some defendants to drop their charges.
Defense attorneys argued their clients’ actions were based on their constitutionally protected free speech rights. He also accused the Arizona Attorney General’s Office of bias against the defendants.
In response, prosecutors said grand juries are independent and have discretion over whether to indict people.
In one exchange, the grand jury asked investigators whether Mayes or his staff members wanted certain results from the investigation. “Absolutely not,” replied the investigator.
