Michigan ‘fake elector’ was working with Trump lawyer, report claims
One of the ‘elector’ claimed he received a call from Mr Trump’s office
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Supporters of former president Donald Trump allegedly received orders to march into the Michigan Capitol in Lansing from the Republican leader's campaign.
A group of supporters "contemplated" working with a Republican lawmaker who had a Capitol office to get the 16 Trump electors inside the elector room where the official count was taking place, The Detroit News reported.
"...(W)e convened and organised in the state Capitol, in the city of Lansing, Michigan, and at 2.00 pm Eastern Standard Time on the 14th day of December 2020," said a false certificate signed and submitted to the National Archives.
The supporters who signed the documents falsely claimed that they were "duly elected and qualified electors".
Robert Norton, an attorney who worked on the 2020 Michigan election in the “background,” told The Detroit News that there had been discussions about how to get the Trump electors in “the right place at the right time.”
Stan Grot, a Shelby Township clerk, who signed the certificate claiming Mr Trump has won the state, claimed that he was asked to show up to sign a document.
He said he believed he had gotten a call from an attorney working on behalf of Mr Trump in Washington, DC.
Last week, Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel announced that she had referred an investigation into the group of Republicans who signed the fake documents purporting to award the state’s electoral votes to Mr Trump.
"I will say that under state law, I think clearly you have forgery of a public record, which is a 14-year offence, and election law forgery, which is a five-year offence,” she told MSNBC.
The Republicans had signed the fake documents in a bid to impede Joe Biden's victory. Mr Biden won the swing state by 154,000 votes, which has been upheld by a series of court rulings in a setback for Mr Trump's efforts to undermine the results of the presidential elections.
After being refused entry to the state capitol, the group held a signing of the fake documents outside the building. The certificates were then forwarded to the National Archives, which rejected them and notified Michigan officials of the forgeries.
Similarly, Republican would-be electors in several other swing states also submitted similar forged documents to the archives, and several Trump administration officials spoke publicly about the existence of the so-called “alternate slates” of sham electors.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments