Arizona AG asks DOJ for special counsel case file related to fake elector case
Jan 14, 2025, 9:19 AM
PHOENIX – Arizona prosecutors are trying to get their hands on any information relevant to their fake elector case from the special counsel investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes asked the Department of Justice for access to the case file pertaining to the fake elector case in a letter Sunday, two days before the DOJ released special counsel Jack Smith’s report into the investigation. Mayes asked the DOJ to respond by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Mayes’ previous request for fake elector case file was rejected
It wasn’t the first time state authorities reached out to the DOJ as part of their fake elector investigation.
Mayes said she requested special counsel materials early in her term, which started in January 2023, but was denied.
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“Today, your office does not have an active case and is preparing to release special counsel’s report in the election case. Given these changed circumstances, I am revisiting my office’s earlier request,” she wrote in in Sunday’s letter.
The federal case against Trump was dismissed after his 2024 electoral victory on the basis of presidential immunity from prosecution. Smith resigned after submitting his report last week.
What was in the special counsel report?
The report, which was released Tuesday morning, details Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. It includes a section on plans to submit fraudulent slates of electors from seven states Trump lost, including Arizona.
“Mr. Trump set the fraudulent elector plan into motion in early December [2020], ensured that it was carried out by co-conspirators and campaign agents in the targeted states, and monitored its progress,” the report says.
In April 2024, an Arizona grand jury indicted 18 individuals who were allegedly involved in the fake elector scheme, including former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and advisor Rudy Giuliani.
Former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward and current state Sen. Jake Hoffman are among those accused of signing falsified Electoral College documents on Dec. 14, 2020. The Arizona Republican Party posted video of the signing to social media that day.
The Signing. pic.twitter.com/6gPsfqrk7T
— Republican Party of Arizona (@AZGOP) December 14, 2020
Court documents filed in August 2024 showed that the grand jury members wanted to indict Trump but prosecutors advised against it.
“I have held steadfast to prosecuting the grand jury’s indictment because those who tried to subvert democracy in 2020 must be held accountable,” Mayes said in her recent letter to the DOJ. “Undoubtedly, disclosing special counsel’s file to my office will help ensure that those who should be held accountable are.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
