The office of Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is currently conducting an ongoing investigation into an alleged attempt to use alternate electors after the 2020 presidential election to benefit former President Donald Trump, as confirmed by a spokesperson for the attorney general. Arizona is among the seven states where Trump lost in 2020, but his allies allegedly tried to create a fraudulent slate of electors. The exact duration, status, and scope of the investigation remain unclear. Mayes, a Democrat, publicly addressed the investigation for the first time on Wednesday, emphasizing the seriousness and solemnity with which they are approaching it, stating that they will carry out the investigation according to their own timetable as justice demands.
This investigation in Arizona coincides with Trump and 18 of his associates facing charges of racketeering, election fraud, and other offenses in Fulton County, Georgia. These charges are based on an alleged effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which includes the use of the alternate elector scheme. The indictment claims that some defendants solicited legislators not only in Georgia but also in states like Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Michigan to appoint new electors. Last week, a federal grand jury indicted the former president for his alleged role in attempting to overturn the election, citing a memo outlining a strategy for Trump supporters to serve as fake electors. The former president has denied any wrongdoing in both these cases, as well as in two other cases, one involving federal counts related to the mishandling of classified documents and the other in state court in New York for allegedly falsifying business records.
It is worth noting that Mayes, who narrowly defeated a Republican candidate who denied the 2020 election results, made a commitment to investigate the alleged fake electors scheme. In Arizona, several GOP candidates who ran in 2022 refused to acknowledge President Biden as the rightful winner of the 2020 election. Notably, Kari Lake, an unsuccessful GOP gubernatorial candidate, became a prominent figure among these election deniers. However, Lake lost the election to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs.
In Michigan, 16 individuals accused of being fake electors have pleaded not guilty. They face charges in connection with an alleged plot to allocate Michigan’s electoral votes to Trump.
Overall, the investigation in Arizona and the ongoing legal cases against Trump and his associates highlight the intense scrutiny surrounding the 2020 presidential election and the alleged attempts to manipulate the electoral process.
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Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C.
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