PUZZLER: Why didn’t Arizona indict Donald Trump?
Georgia took the lead in prosecuting conspiracies underlying the fake electors scheme, undoubtedly due to a recorded phone call from then-President Donald Trump, but now other states are catching up, and some Trump team members are paying the price.
Arizona is the latest jurisdiction to indict conspirators in the fake electors scheme. On Wednesday, Arizona indicted former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former attorney Rudy Giuliani, and Boris Epshteyn, a former White House aide who remains in the Trump camp as the overall coordinator of legal matters and assistant in the campaign.
On Wednesday night, Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes made a statement concerning the indictments, one focused on 11 people who either acted as fake electors or organized the fake elector scheme. Several names were redacted because they have yet to be served.
Trump will certainly remain an unindicted co-conspirator if he had knowledge of the crime and acted on it. It will be another headache the Republican presidential frontrunner doesn’t need.
In filing the indictment, Mayes stated:
“A state grand jury made up of everyday regular Arizonans, has now handed down felony indictments for all 11 Republican electors as well as several others connected to this team. These are serious indictments, but this is the first hurdle the state must pass in our constitutional criminal justice system.”
One is left with the sinking feeling that these indictments should have been brought in 2022. All the important facts were known at the time, and the late indictment simply gives the MAGA right more force in arguing that these indictments are political.
This will be true even though Trump isn’t indicted.
The charges leave Trump worrying about witness testimony in the Arizona trial, especially previously unknown testimony that applies to other indictments in other jurisdictions. This is especially true if someone like Mark Meadows strikes a deal again, this time with Arizonan officials in which he agrees to “tell all.”
Every criminal case against Trump has legitimate underpinnings, but every case is built around facts available in late 2022. Whether the indictment goes after Trump or not, it serves to further the argument that these criminal charges are political in nature.
It’s regrettable and somewhat problematic— and likely why Arizona didn’t add Trump to its indictment list.
Georgia indicted Trump and did so first, but it had the taped phone call on which to rely. Arizona, though, has a former Speaker of the Arizona State House, Rusty Bowers, who has already spoken out against Trump and testified before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th, saying, “I was insistent that I had to have proof, real proof, judicial level.”
Of course, that proof never materialized even after Arizona hired an independent firm to audit its election an audit that found the vote undercounted… votes for Biden. (Just a few).
Arizona might have been the most aggressive state in pursuing fake electors (though that is obviously subjective), and thus, the evidence is likely the strongest, at least with respect to the fake electors scheme as a stand-alone, independent charge.
The case will take a long time to put together, but it will certainly be another distraction in an election year, whether Trump is ultimately indicted or not.
This report is based on original reporting by and of CNN.
Jason Miciak is an Editor at Large for Occupy Democrats.
Editor’s note: This is an opinion column that solely reflects the opinions of the author.
For clarifications, comments, & typos, email: editor@occupydemocrats.com.
