Arizona grand jury indicts 11 Republicans who falsely declared Trump won the state in 2020

Eleven Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against “fake electors.”

The defendants include the former chair of the Arizona Republican Party, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state legislators. The grand jury indictment also describes an unindicted co-conspirator who is clearly Trump.

The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.