Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows are reportedly among the 18 allies of former President Donald Trump who on Wednesday were indicted by an Arizona grand jury, accused in efforts to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results, according to newly released court documents.
The charges include fraud, forgery and conspiracy, according to a statement from Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes' office.
The Context
Arizona, where President Joe Biden defeated Trump by more than 10,000 votes, was among seven states where Republicans are accused of acting as fake electors, allegedly signing documents falsely claiming Trump had won. In addition to Arizona, prosecutors have also handed down charges in Nevada, Georgia and Michigan.
Mayes announced last year that her office was investigating those who acted as electors and attempted to claim Trump had won the state in 2020.
On December 14, 2020, a group of Republicans met in Phoenix to sign a document falsely declaring themselves the "duly elected and qualified electors" for the state and claimed that Trump was the victor, and another group comprised of activists also signed a similar fake declaration, according to court documents.
Mayes on Wednesday evening announced the slew of charges.
What We Know
In addition to Giuliani, Trump's former lawyer, and Meadows, the ex-president's White House chief of staff, more than a dozen high-profile Republicans are accused of acting as "fake electors" while asserting without evidence that Trump had defeated Biden in Arizona.
While 11 were named in the indictment on Wednesday, seven additional names were redacted from records released by Mayes.
The defendants named in the documents include Kelli Ward, former chair of the Arizona Republican Party, and her husband Michael Ward; ex-U.S. Senate candidate Jim Lamon; two current state senators, Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern; and Tyler Bowyer, the Republican National Committee's Arizona committeeman and chief operating officer of the pro-Trump Turning Point Action organization.
Attorneys Jenna Ellis, John Eastman and Christina Bobb, campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn and former campaign aide Mike Roman are also charged, along with former top state Republicans Greg Safsten and Robert Montgomery, and GOP activists Samuel Moorhead, Nancy Cottle and Loraine Pellegrino.
Trump was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Arizona probe, according to The New York Times.
The Views
In a video announcing the indictments shared on X, formerly Twitter, Mayes blasted the defendants and unindicted co-conspirators, accusing them of attempting to undermine the votes cast by Arizona residents.
"We're here because justice demands an answer to the efforts the defendants and other unindicted co-conspirators allegedly took to undermine the will of Arizona's voters during the 2020 presidential election," Mayes said. "Arizona's election was free and fair. The people of Arizona elected President Biden, unwilling to accept this fact that defendants charged by the state grand jury, allegedly schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency. Whatever their reasoning was, the plot to violate the law must be answered for and I was elected to uphold the law of this state."
The attorney general continued: "The scheme had it succeeded would have deprived Arizona's voters of their right to have their votes counted for their chosen president. It effectively would have made their right to vote meaningless."
Newsweek reached out via email on Wednesday to the Arizona district attorney's office and Trump's representatives for comment.
While Giuliani didn't mention the Arizona charges, the former New York City mayor doubled down on his election stance in posts to X on Wednesday night.
"The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election was stolen. Change my mind," he wrote.
In a subsequent post, Giuliani wrote: "We've never had the chance to argue our case and present the facts about the 2020 election in court. Unfortunately, too many Americans may be distracted, influenced, or just uninterested in the truth about 2020, so these same folks will likely try it again. Rinse and repeat!"
In an email to Newsweek on Wednesday night, Ted Goodman, Giuliani's political adviser, said that the "continued weaponization of our justice system should concern every American as it does permanent, irrevocable harm to the country."
"Mayor Rudy Giuliani—one of the most effective prosecutors in American history who took down the Mafia, cleaned up the streets of New York and locked up corrupt public officials—is proud to stand up for the countless Americans who raised legitimate concerns surrounding the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election," Goodman said. "It's unfortunate to see so many so-called 'leaders' who are willing to eviscerate our entire justice system in their quest to take down the biggest threat to their grasp on power—President Donald Trump and anyone willing to take on the ruling regime."
Charlie Kirk, founder and president of conservative organization Turning Point USA, also criticized the indictments in several posts on X.
Kirk wrote in one post that Mayes, a Democrat, is "pursuing radical and unprecedented criminal charges against seven attorneys for Donald Trump over efforts to contest the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. She's charging Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Boris Ephsteyn and Mike Roman, as well as Arizona's 11 Republican electors. Those electors include my colleague and friend Tyler Bowyer, the National Committeeman for AZ and head of Turning Point Action."
What's Next
Mayes said in a statement Wednesday night that several of the defendants are still being served with the charges.
Update 4/24/24, 11:20 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Goodman and additional information.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Maura Zurick is the Newsweek Weekend Night Editor based in Cleveland, Ohio. Her focus is reporting on U.S. national news ... Read more
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