Nevada charges pro-Trump fake electors accused of attempting to overturn 2020 election

Geoff Bennett:

Six top Republican officials have been indicted in Nevada for pledging that state's electoral votes to Donald Trump in 2020 as part of an illegal effort to reverse Trump's loss to Joe Biden.

These so-called fake electors include the state's Republican Party chairman and national committeeman.

William Brangham takes a deeper look.

William Brangham:

Geoff, Nevada is now the third state to bring criminal charges against false electors, following Georgia and Michigan.

In Wisconsin, another group of fake electors settled a civil lawsuit this week requiring them to admit Joe Biden won the presidency and that they were trying to improperly overturn that result.

Election law expert Rick Hasen is the director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA's Law School and author of the forthcoming book "A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy."

Rick, great to have you back on the "NewsHour."

Can you remind us what these fake electors were actually trying to do, how they were trying to insert themselves into the elections process?

Rick Hasen, UCLA School of Law: Sure.

Well, you know, after people vote, there's a whole procedure that takes place where the state's results are translated into Electoral College votes. There's a date that the electors meet in each state. The results are then sent into Congress, and those results are counted on January 6.

You may remember that, at the time that the 2020 election period came, when it was time for the electors' votes to be cast, Trump was claiming that he was actually the victor in a number of these states. What he tried to do was have Republican slates of electors who were pledged to him vote on the same day, and so that these votes could then be sent in, and they would potentially be counted by Congress.

The problem was that there was no authorization under state law to have these Republicans meet. These were all states where Joe Biden won and where the lawful electors were the Biden electors, whose slates were actually sent to Congress, and those were the ones that were ultimately counted on January 6 and then the morning of January 7 back in 2021.

William Brangham:

So there were fake electors, as we call them, operating in seven different states back in 2020.

We have this settlement in Wisconsin. We have these charges brought in Nevada. Are there other similar investigations under way?

Rick Hasen:

Well, we know there are a few more states where this is going on. We don't know if there are criminal investigations.

One of the things that happened was that, in the Georgia case, which is the sprawling RICO case involving lots of defendants, including charges against the fake electors, there was a plea agreement with one of the people advising Trump, a guy named Chesebro, who was behind the scheme.

And he now, after pleading to crimes in Georgia, is cooperating with different state officials. So, they may be getting information and evidence that they didn't have before, so it's possible that, in other states, they're considering this. And, also, in states where there already are prosecutions, those cases may now be stronger with that new evidence.

William Brangham:

So Kenneth Chesebro is — he was one of the architects of this fake electors scheme. And so the sense is, if he's now turning evidence in Georgia, he said he will participate in all these other cases as well as part of his plea deal?

Rick Hasen:

His lawyers said he would talk to anyone. I don't know if it's actually part of the plea deal, but it's something that he said he's willing to do.

And, presumably, he's also willing to talk to federal prosecutors. This could become either part of the Trump election interference case or part of some other cases that the DOJ may or may not bring.

William Brangham:

Criminal charges are obviously meant to punish lawbreakers. And some of these people are not fringe actors.

I mean, in Nevada, some of — these are some of the top Republican officials in that state, who still retain their offices. Do you think that these charges and these settlements in any way deter future bad actors?

Rick Hasen:

Well, I think the first thing to note is that some of these people who were electors were told that they were just doing some kind of technical backup. In case a court came in and said Trump actually won the case, then there wouldn't be some technical problem with trying to count Electoral College votes from a particular state.

Those people might — you might not be able to show any criminal intent. But then there are others who saw this more as a potential way to subvert the election outcomes. For those people, I think this could well be a deterrent.

One of the things that happened in the Wisconsin case, which was a civil case that was settled earlier this week, is that there was an admission by all of the fake electors there that Joe Biden had won the presidency.

Rather than a financial settlement, having these Republican leaders publicly say that Joe Biden won the election was thought to be more important for the plaintiffs than actually getting money, which kind of tells you what the point of some of this is, which is to try to bolster the electoral — people's confidence in electoral integrity and to say that the 2020 election was done fairly and to deter people from trying things like this in 2024.

William Brangham:

It is a striking moment. We are still three years in, having people certify that Joe Biden won the election.

Rick Hasen at the UCLA Law School, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

Rick Hasen:

Thank you.