Arizona fake electors indicted for trying to subvert 2020 election

A grand jury indicted 11 Republican stalwarts of former President Donald Trump who schemed in Arizona to become fake electors after his failed reelection bid in 2020.

The collection of GOP leaders, activists and influencers now each face nine felony counts. Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the 11 indictments on Wednesday against Tyler Bowyer, Nancy Cottle, Jacob Hoffman, Anthony Kern, James Lamon, Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Lorraine Pellegrino, Gregory Safsten, Kelli Ward and Michael Ward.

Seven other people also were criminally charged, but their names were redacted from the grand jury indictment. Mayes said those names will be released when they've been served with the indictment, though some of the identities were obvious.

The fake electors face a raft of charges: one count each of conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, and fraudulent schemes and practices; and six counts of forgery.

On Dec. 14, 2020, the 11 fake electors gathered at the state GOP's headquarters in Phoenix. Believing they were saving America from a stolen election, they signed their names to a memorandum declaring themselves to be "the duly elected and qualified electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America."

The 11 fabulists then dutifully recorded their "votes" for Donald J. Trump for president and Michael R. Pence for vice president and sent the document to the U.S. Senate.

The month before, Joe Biden bested Trump by 10,457 votes in Arizona, winning the state and all 11 of its electoral votes.

But Trump and his minions are really sore losers. As a result, the Trump campaign orchestrated slates of phony electors in Arizona and six other states, the idea being that when it came time to certify the election on Jan. 6, 2021, Pence would choose the bogus electors over the legit ones, thereby overturning the election in favor of Trump.

The scheme failed miserably, with Pence opting to abide by the U.S. Constitution instead. Urged on by Trump, a riotous crowd stormed Capitol Hill, interrupting the certification of the election for several hours.

Mayes' investigation in Arizona is one of several similar cases of fake electors in other states. Mayes told KJZZ in February that her office would make an announcement regarding the investigation "in the relatively near future."

So, who are the Arizonans now facing criminal charges? Below are run-downs on all 11.

Jim Lamon

In 2022, retired energy tycoon Jim Lamon spent nearly $20 million — most of it his own money — running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, only to come in a distant second in the GOP primary to Tucson-based venture capitalist Blake Masters. Masters went on to lose the general election to the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Mark Kelly.

During his campaign, Lamon bragged about being part of the slate of pro-Trump electors, telling audience members at one GOP Senate debate that they could trust him on election integrity because “in 2020, you gave me the honor of being an elector for the state of Arizona for President Trump," a duty he took “very seriously.”

Lamon also claimed some credit for Arizona's widely ridiculed election audit, saying he pressured former state Senate President Karen Fann to go forward with it. Lamon said he paid for the audit's security personnel. He also backed an effort to assist those who rioted on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, by supporting the Trump-endorsed “Justice For J6” campaign.

But all this pro-Trump activity came to naught. The former president endorsed Masters over Lamon in the primary.  Lamon's candidacy is largely remembered for a series of controversial commercials, including an Easter-themed ad in which he seemed to liken himself to Jesus Christ and a Super Bowl ad featuring a Wild West shootout between Lamon and President Biden, Sen. Kelly and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Is Lamon sore that he didn't get Trump's nod in 2022? Could be. In July 2023, Newsweek and other outlets reported that Lamon was the sole donor behind the Actions Speak Louder Than Tweets Political Action Committee.

The PAC ran ads on NewsMax critical of Trump for supporting "red flag" gun laws, in which firearms are confiscated from those deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Lamon defended himself from critics on Twitter/X, writing that the ad used "Trump’s own words."

Greg Safsten

According to a March 6 report by the Washington Post, Kenneth Chesebro, the so-called "architect" of the fake electors' scheme, communicated instructions to Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward and Greg Safsten, then the state GOP's executive director, on how to execute the Dec. 14 declaration from the slate of sham electors.

The Post explains:

Chesebro drafted certificate templates for the electors to sign and answered Ward’s questions about the names and titles that appeared on those drafts, which were later changed. Records show that Chesebro sent instructions to Ward, Safsten, a Trump campaign official and local attorneys about how to carry out the plan — including how to seal and transmit envelopes carrying the paperwork.

In 2022, Safsten was a paid campaign consultant to Masters. Safsten served as the state GOP's executive director from 2020 to 2022. Before that, he was the deputy chief of staff for far-right Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, a vociferous supporter of Trump and the "Stop the Steal" campaign. Biggs was one of the 147 members of Congress who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

In August, the Arizona Republic revealed that Safsten was busted for extreme DUI in 2022, later pleading guilty to the offense. A Gilbert police officer allegedly witnessed Safsten speeding away from a Taco Bell and "losing control of his vehicle as it fishtailed." The officer pulled over Safsten and arrested him after he allegedly failed field sobriety tests. Safsten "was fined and sentenced in January to 60 months' probation," according to the Republic.

Kelli and Michael Ward

Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson called Kelli Ward's leadership of the Arizona Republican Party "an unmitigated disaster" in November 2022, referring to a near sweep of statewide elected offices by Democrats since Ward became state party chair in 2019.

The same can be said of Ward's unsuccessful attempts to nullify the results of the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. Ward and her husband, Michael — who, like her, is a conspiracy-lovin' osteopath — signed the December 2020 statement falsely declaring themselves to be "duly elected and qualified" electors from Arizona.

Ward's efforts to overturn the election were not confined to her becoming part of the slate of fake electors. While the votes were still being tabulated, Ward texted Clint Hickman — then chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors — telling him, "We need you to stop the counting." She warned Hickman that he could be "remembered as the guy who led the charge to certify a fraudulent election."

The state GOP's Twitter account asked fellow Republicans if they were willing to die for President Trump. Ward's husband Michael tweeted that he hoped "every backstabbing ‘Republican’ gets paid back for their failure to act come Jan 20th!” The Wards and other fake electors sued the state of Arizona, seeking to have the election results "decertified," but the suit was tossed by a federal judge.

Kelli Ward rationalized the violence on Jan. 6, tweeting that the siege of the Capitol could have been avoided if there had been a transparent audit of the election results. Ward later invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack attempted to depose her. Both she and her husband fought to block a subpoena from the committee for their phone records, taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to intervene.

After her term as party chair ended, the Wards reportedly purchased a 44-foot sailing yacht dubbed "American Honey" and began a charter business based in the Bahamas. Kelli Ward resurfaced in January at the Arizona Republican Party elections in Phoenix, where she allegedly assaulted a woman by hitting her with "a piece of paper."

Ward later denied any hitting took place in a text to the Arizona Republic, saying, "Lots of liars out there. Sadly inside the party. Not new. Just sad."

Jake Hoffman

Before signing on to be one of 11 fake electors, state Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Queen Creek Republican, was best known for his right-wing marketing firm Rally Forge being banned from Facebook in 2020. The company ran a troll farm that spread disinformation on behalf of Turning Point Action, an affiliate of the powerful conservative youth group Turning Point USA.

According to an exposé in the Washington Post, the troll farm hired Phoenix-area teens to propagate misleading memes downplaying the threat of COVID-19, attacking Democrats and sowing doubt about mail-in ballots. As a result, Facebook removed 200 accounts and 55 pages connected to the campaign. Instagram reportedly took down 76 accounts, and Twitter suspended 262 accounts for “platform manipulation and spam."

None of this hurt Hoffman, who in 2020 was elected to represent Legislative District 12 in the state House, where he served as vice chair of the Government and Elections Committee. In 2022, he was elected to the Arizona Senate from Legislative District 15.

He now chairs the powerful Senate Government and Director Nominations committees and founded the right-wing legislative Freedom Caucus. He's earned a reputation as a combative partisan who often champions unconstitutional legislation, such as a recent bill to prevent Satanic displays on public property, which ultimately failed to pass.

In addition to signing on as a fake elector, he and other sham electors joined a federal lawsuit filed by Republican U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, asking the court to declare that Pence "may exercise the exclusive authority and sole discretion in determining which electoral votes to count for a given State."

The district court dismissed the suit for lack of standing. Gohmert appealed his case to the ultraconservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which summarily tossed it.

On the day before the Jan. 6 riot, Hoffman sent a letter to Pence, requesting that he refuse to accept votes from the slate of official electors from Arizona.

Hoffman recently announced his candidacy for a seat on the Republican National Committee. A statement on his website touted Hoffman's "proven track record of effective leadership and advocacy."

"It’s time for the next wave of grassroots leaders to take the reins and forge an RNC that respects the grassroots, refuses to lose, and stands for truth and righteousness in this present battle between good and evil,” the statement reads.

Tyler Bowyer

A former chair of the Maricopa County Republican Party and one-time student member of the Arizona Board of Regents, Tyler Bowyer joined the lucrative right-wing youth group Turning Point USA in 2015, according to the group's website. He eventually became Turning Point's chief operating officer as well as COO for the affiliated group, Turning Point Action, both of which were co-founded by conservative wunderkind Charlie Kirk.

In a 2022 Washington Post analysis of the Turning Point phenomenon, Bowyer described his role at the organization as “the guy that basically runs everything." He also reportedly boasted about his thrill for political combat, saying, "I have giant balls."

The Post piece also noted Turning Point's involvement in the events of Jan. 6, 2021:

Turning Point Action arranged for seven buses to take 350 activists from several states to D.C. for the Jan. 6, 2021, rally near the White House, according to three people familiar with the rally planning. Bowyer and Kirk have been interviewed by the House committee investigating the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that followed the rally, according to two people familiar with the matter.

A Turning Point spokesperson told the Post that the group’s involvement that day was "isolated to the president’s speech at the Ellipse."

On Dec. 14, 2020, about three weeks before the Capitol riot, Bowyer tweeted a photo of himself with his fellow fake electors, writing that he was "proud to cast my vote as Republican Elector for Arizona for Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence."

Balls, indeed.

Anthony Kern

State Sen. Anthony Kern, a Glendale Republican, has built a reputation as an extremist legislator with a checkered past that preceded his enthusiastic support for Trump's "Stop the Steal" movement.

In 2015, the Arizona Capitol Times caught Kern, then in the Arizona House, in a falsehood when he described himself as “a certified peace officer," though he had never been one. In March 2019, Phoenix New Times revealed that Kern was fired from his job as a code enforcement officer with the El Mirage Police Department for lying to his sergeant. Subsequently, his name was placed on the so-called Brady list, a database of police employees with credibility issues maintained by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

Kern also openly expressed anti-LGBTQ views, once asking Tea Party loyalists, "Do you want LGBTQ rights to take over?" He has a long history of pushing anti-LGBTQ legislation.

When he failed to get reelected in 2020 to the state House, the Trump stalwart focused his energies on aiding the effort to nullify the presidential election results, signing on as a fake elector and tweeting that in doing so, he was "Honored to Fight for our Republic."

On Jan. 6, 2021, Kern was recorded on video outside the U.S. Capitol. He later denied that the MAGA crowd had devolved into a riot or to have participated in anything illegal, tweeting, "Today, men, women, young people, and children protested at their US Capitol. Only a small few broke the law." In May 2021, reporters witnessed Kern counting ballots as part of the Arizona "audit" of the election, paid for by the state Senate.

With the help of Trump's endorsement, Kern was elected to the Arizona Senate from Legislative District 20 and is now running in the Republican primary for the 8th Congressional District. His activities as a fake elector have drawn the scrutiny of Mayes.

Kern recently denounced Mayes' investigation as a "weaponization of the government" during a press conference in which he would not say if he had received a subpoena to testify before a state grand jury. He then entered the Maricopa County courthouse and meandered through the building with reporters and cameras trailing him, at one point asking a sheriff's deputy to be escorted from the building. The deputy declined.

Robert Montgomery

Robert Montgomery, the former chair of the Cochise County Republican Party, has not confined his election results denialism to becoming a counterfeit elector. In text messages from May 2022 published by the Arizona Agenda, Montgomery asked Lisa Marra, then Cochise County's elections director, for the roster of those hired to be poll workers for the county.

Montgomery told Marra that he wanted to verify that "at least 50%" were Republicans. Marra informed Montgomery there was no legal requirement for 50% Republican representation among poll workers. Montgomery replied, "I get that, but if Republicans are outnumbered at poll worker positions in Cochise County by Dems, there will be rage and massive distrust."

Arizona Agenda tied Montgomery's request to a national effort by the Republican Party to challenge election results by installing "trained recruits as regular poll workers" and connecting them to party attorneys.

In September 2022, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors appointed Montgomery to the board of the Palominas Fire District over the objections of several residents. They cited Montgomery's role as a "fake elector."

A month later, Montgomery pushed for the Cochise County Board of Supervisors to require a full hand count in the midterm elections, contrary to state law, in the much-debunked belief that hand counts are more accurate than machine-tabulated ballots. The board initially approved a plan for a full hand count, but after receiving a letter from then Secretary of State Katie Hobbs warning the board that the plan would be illegal, they voted to do an expanded audit of the election instead.

Addressing the board during public comments, Montgomery urged the supervisors to throw Hobbs' letter “in the bucket somewhere.” He assured the board that a full hand count would be "easy to do" and that he had the volunteers lined up to accomplish the task.

The board did not follow Montgomery's advice, but after the election, they voted to delay the certification of the election results. Though the board eventually reversed itself, the delay got the two Republican supervisors who voted for it in hot water. In November 2023, Mayes announced a grand jury indictment of the two supervisors on felony charges of interfering with an election officer and conspiracy.

Samuel Moorhead

A signatory to the Dec. 14 memorandum, Moorhead is vice president of the Gila County Provisional Community College District Governing Board. Previously, he was the second vice chair of the Gila County Republican Party.

The Payson Roundup offered these details about him in a 2021 story about his election to the governing board:

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Samuel Moorhead brings military, higher education, and on-the-job experience to the board. Moorhead served as a corpsman in the United States Navy for 14 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Edinboro State University in Edinboro, Pa., and a master’s degree in special education from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, N.M. Moorhead was a commercial driver for Werner Enterprises until his retirement in 2007.

Nancy Cottle

The memorandum signed by the bogus Trump electors listed Mesa resident Nancy Cottle as "chairperson" of the non-existent "Electoral College of Arizona." The Republic reported in July that Cottle served on the Maricopa County Republican Committee and the Arizona Republican Party Executive Committee. The Republic also noted that Cottle "led the Pledge of Allegiance at a Jan. 15, 2022, Trump rally in Florence, ending with the rallying cry, 'Let's Go Brandon.'"

In July 2022, Cottle reportedly received a subpoena from a federal grand jury investigating the fake electors. She was also subpoenaed by a Congressional committee, also referred to as the Jan. 6th Committee, looking into the Jan. 6 insurrection.

On her Twitter account, Cottle identified herself as a "Social Media Influencer." She also called herself a "political junkie," a "rock n' roller," and an "Ohio girl in AZ," stating "Always America First."

Loraine Pellegrino

Like Cottle, Loraine Pellegrino reportedly received a subpoena from the Jan. 6th Committee and from a federal grand jury. The Dec. 14, 2020, memorandum that she signed described her as being "secretary" of the group.

Pellegrino told the Republic that “absolutely nothing” had come of the Congressional subpoena.

“We were electors for Trump, and we were hoping things would change,” she explained to the paper regarding her involvement in the fake electors saga. “Just in case, we signed our paperwork to be ready in the event that something was overturned."

Pellegrino has a history of activism in the Arizona Republican Party. She's a past president of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women. In 2012, she represented Arizona as one of 29 delegates to the National Republican Convention in Tampa. And in 2019, the Maricopa County Republicans honored her with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Cottle and Pellegrino's attorney, state Rep. Alex Kolodin, blasted the select committee for subpoenaing the two women. In remarks to the Arizona Daily Independent News Network, a conservative-leaning news website, Kolodin said Cottle and Pellegrino were “thousands of miles away from the Capitol” on Jan. 6.

“Congress has not come after Nancy and Loraine because they are strong and powerful. It knows that they are not,” Kolodin said. “To label these women seditionists is to call dissent itself sedition. By attacking Nancy and Loraine, Washington seeks to raise the price of political opposition to one that normal Americans are no longer willing to pay.”

A libertarian-leaning Republican, Kolodin was sanctioned by the State Bar of Arizona in December for lawsuits he filed challenging the outcome of the 2020 presidential contest.