CNN:
The charged individuals are Kathy Berden, a Republican National Committeewoman from Michigan; William (Hank) Choate; Amy Facchinello; Clifford Frost; Stanley Grot; John Haggard; Mary-Ann Henry; Timothy King; Michele Lundgren, Meshawn Maddock, the former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party; James Renner; Mayra Rodriguez; Rose Rook; Marian Sheridan; Ken Thompson; and Kent Vanderwood.
All 16 individuals were charged with multiple felonies “for their role in the alleged false electors scheme following the 2020 U.S. presidential election,” Nessel’s office announced. The counts include one count of conspiracy to commit forgery, two counts of forgery, one count of conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing and one count of uttering and publishing – all of which carry a maximum of 14 years in prison – as well as one count of conspiracy to commit election law forgery and two counts of election law forgery, which carry a maximum of five years in prison.
The group of 16 fake electors from Michigan includes current and former state GOP officials, the Republican National Committee member, a sitting mayor, a school board member and Trump supporters who were the plaintiffs in a frivolous lawsuit that tried to overturn the 2020 results.
* * *
The 16 fake GOP electors from Michigan met in Lansing on December 14, 2020, and signed certificates falsely proclaiming that Trump won the state and they were the rightful electors. They were rebuffed by police when they tried to enter the statehouse to deliver the papers, according to videos of the interaction, which took place while the real group of Democratic electors were meeting inside the building. President Joe Biden defeated Trump by a little more than 154,000 votes in the 2020 election.
Obviously these defendants conspired with each other, but I'm curious if the charging document also refers to unindicted co-conspirators, i.e., the geniuses behind this scheme, such as Eastman.
“These defendants may have believed the now long-debunked myths of vote tampering or ballot dumps,” Nessel said. “They may have felt compelled to follow the call to action from a president they held fealty to. They may have even genuinely believed that this was their patriotic duty.”
She continued, “But none of those reasons or feelings provide legal justification to violate the law and upend our Constitution and our nation’s traditions of representative government, self-determination, and a government by the people.”
Among the defendants' anticipated defenses likely will be no specific intent, due either to their "mistaken" beliefs or reliance on some counsel's advice.
And/or the First Amendment: "We wuz just cosplaying our grievances!"
* * *
Absent some smocking-gun memo (saying, e.g., "this is bunk; we know it is bunk"), I'm surprised someone pulled the trigger on filing.