They did not hesitate to lie to the US Senate to try to re-elect Donald Trump at all costs, risking up to fourteen years in prison for this. Sixteen supporters of the former Republican president have been indicted in Michigan over the “fake voters” case, aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The accusations made in this northern US state are the first against the participants in the project who attempted – illegitimately – to have Donald Trump proclaimed the winner in seven US states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin ).
Had this project been successful, the Republican would have held the White House at Joe Biden’s expense. The failure of the scheme is considered one of the triggering events for the assault on the Capitol in Washington, on January 6, 2021, the day of certification of the Democratic candidate’s victory.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel explained that approximately three weeks before January 6, 2021, the sixteen defendants met “secretly” in the basement of the Michigan Republican Party headquarters. They had then signed papers certifying they were voters from Michigan, he said she. These fake certificates were then sent to the US Senate with the aim of having their votes counted instead of those of the real Michigan voters, and thus proclaiming Donald Trump the winner in this state.
Conspiracy
In the United States the president is chosen by indirect universal suffrage, each state assigning its electors, whose number essentially depends on its population, to the candidate who comes first locally.
The forged certificates were ultimately ignored, but the attempt was investigated, including by the House of Representatives committee that investigated the January 6 riot.
“This project – to reject the will of the voters and undermine democracy – was fraudulent and without a legal basis”the Michigan attorney general said. The sixteen defendants face several counts, including conspiracy, counterfeiting and use of counterfeiting.
Among them are Michigan Republican National Committee chief Kathy Berden as well as former Michigan Republican Party co-chair Meshawn Maddock.
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On Tuesday, Donald Trump announced at the same time that he had received a letter from prosecutors informing him that he was being personally targeted by the federal investigation into the storming of the Capitol. Special Counsel Jack Smith is interested in the false voter project as part of his broader investigation into Donald Trump and his role specifically around the events of January 6, 2021. Two lawyers close to Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, are accused of piloting the false voter project, and would be targeted by the investigation of the prosecutor Smith.
