by Scott McClallen
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she referred a group of people who attempted to falsely certify Michigan’s 2020 Presidential electoral votes for Donald Trump to federal prosecutors.
On a Thursday’s MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” Nessel said she referred the case to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Michigan.
Nessel suggested forgery charges and said the GOP electors acted in a “coordinated effort” across battleground states.
“Under state law, I think clearly you have forgery of a public record, which is a 14-year offense, and election law forgery, which is a five-year offense,” Nessel said.
Although Pres. Joe Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes, verified by various court rulings and a GOP investigation, a Dec. 14, 2020 memo obtained by the Detroit News says that Republican national committeewoman Kathy Berden sent the GOP electors certificate to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. archivist, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office and Robert Jonker, the chief judge of U.S. District Court for Michigan’s Western District.
Michigan’s 16 presidential electors met inside the Capitol to officially certify a Biden win while Michigan State Police blocked the fake group from entering.
The ongoing investigation could involve up to 16 Republicans, including GOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock and her husband Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, who falsely signed they were the “duly elected and qualified electors” who “convened and organized” in the state Capitol.
“Sending more than one slate of electors is not unheard of,” The News reported Maddock said on Facebook at the time. “It’s our duty to the people of Michigan and to the U.S. Constitution to send another slate of electors if the election is in controversy or dispute — and clearly it is.”
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Scott McClallen is a staff writer covering Michigan and Minnesota for The Center Square. A graduate of Hillsdale College, his work has appeared on Forbes.com and FEE.org. Previously, he worked as a financial analyst at Pepsi.
Photo “Dana Nessel” by Dana Nessel. Background Photo “Michigan State Capitol” by Smpage09 CC BY-SA 3.0.
