Trump’s Fake Electors Plot
🟤 Election Tampering ·
Nov–Dec 2020
Summary
Following Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, Trump and associates organized fake slates of Republican presidential electors in seven states that Trump lost (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin), submitting forged certificates of ascertainment to Congress, the National Archives, and state officials. The plan, devised by attorney Kenneth Chesebro and pushed by Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, aimed to have Vice President Mike Pence count the fake slates on January 6, 2021 in place of, or alongside, the certified electors. Pence’s refusal to go along with this plan, and instead certify Biden’s electoral victory, was the reason for Trump’s social media post on that day stating “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done”. Four defendants, including Sidney Powell and Chesebro, pleaded guilty in the Georgia RICO case; state-level prosecutions against fake electors proceeded in Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin. 24 fake electors were criminally charged.
Key Figures
Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, Mike Pence, Kenneth Chesebro
Institutions Involved
National Archives, DOJ, January 6 Committee
Sources
- Grand Jury Indictment of Donald Trump for Conspiracy and Obstruction
- Trump GA indictment
- Final Report Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol