Arizona AG Kris Mayes to Seek New Indictment Against Trump Allies in 2020 Fake Electors Case After Supreme Court Setback

Arizona AG Kris Mayes Seeks New Indictment Against Trump 2020 Allies in Fake Electors Case | Latest Updates

PHOENIX, Ariz. (17GEN4 News) – Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Thursday that her office will present the high-profile “fake electors” case back to a new grand jury in an effort to secure fresh indictments against 18 allies and operatives tied to former President Donald Trump’s 2020 bid to overturn Arizona’s election results.

The move comes just days after the Arizona Supreme Court declined to revive the original April 2024 indictment, which a lower-court judge had thrown out on procedural grounds. Mayes’ spokesperson, Richie Taylor, confirmed the decision in a brief statement: “The Arizona Attorney General’s Office will return this case to the grand jury. We decline to comment further at this time.”

The case centers on the so-called fake electors scheme that unfolded in the weeks after the November 2020 presidential election. Joe Biden narrowly defeated Trump in Arizona by 10,457 votes, earning the state’s 11 electoral votes. On December 14, 2020—the same day legitimate Biden electors met—11 Republican activists gathered at Arizona Republican Party headquarters in Phoenix and signed false certificates claiming they were the duly elected electors for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Those documents were later transmitted to Congress and the National Archives but were never accepted.

The original 58-page grand jury indictment, handed down April 25, 2024, charged all 18 defendants with nine felony counts each, including conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, fraudulent schemes and practices, and multiple counts of forgery. Prosecutors alleged the defendants conspired to corrupt the election results, disenfranchise Arizona voters, and submit false electoral documents in a coordinated effort to keep Trump in office. Trump himself was named an unindicted co-conspirator.

Defendants in the original indictment included:

• 11 Arizona Republican “fake electors”: Tyler Bowyer (Turning Point Action COO), Nancy Cottle, state Sen. Jake Hoffman, state Sen. Anthony Kern, Jim Lamon (charges later dismissed in exchange for emails), Robert Montgomery, Samuel Moorhead, Loraine Pellegrino (who later pleaded guilty to a lesser false-instrument charge and received probation), Greg Safsten, former Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward, and Michael Ward.

• 7 Trump associates: Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows (Trump’s then-chief of staff), John Eastman (attorney who helped draft the strategy), Jenna Ellis (charges dropped after cooperation agreement), Christina Bobb, Boris Epshteyn, and Mike Roman.

  
  

Several defendants had already seen charges resolved through cooperation deals or dismissals before the procedural collapse: Ellis entered a cooperation agreement in August 2024; Pellegrino pleaded guilty to one count; and Lamon’s charges were dropped in December 2025.

The indictment was dismissed in May 2025 by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen, who ruled that prosecutors violated due process by failing to present the grand jury with the precise text of the key statute the defendants were accused of violating—specifically provisions of the federal Electoral Count Act that the defense claimed justified their actions as a lawful “alternate” slate. An appeals court upheld the ruling, and the Arizona Supreme Court issued a one-line denial of Mayes’ petition for review on or about June 2–4, 2026, effectively forcing prosecutors to start over.

Mayes, a Democrat who took office in 2023 after flipping from Republican, has described the case as essential to holding those responsible for attempting to subvert the 2020 results accountable. Critics, including some defendants, have called the prosecution politically motivated “lawfare.”

This Arizona case is one of the last remaining state-level prosecutions tied to the 2020 fake-electors efforts nationwide. Similar cases have collapsed or stalled elsewhere: Georgia’s case against Trump and allies fell apart after the lead prosecutor was disqualified; a federal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith was dismissed following Trump’s 2024 victory; Michigan dropped its case against individual electors; and actions in Nevada and Wisconsin remain pending but face hurdles.

No timeline has been released for when the new grand jury will convene or when any fresh indictments might be returned. The restart could push any eventual trial well into 2027 or beyond, potentially overlapping with Mayes’ own re-election campaign. As of Friday afternoon, June 5, 2026, no further updates from the Attorney General’s Office have been issued.

Arizona AG Kris Mayes Seeks New Indictment Against Trump 2020 Allies in Fake Electors Case | Latest Updates

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes will return the 2020 Trump fake electors case to a new grand jury after the state Supreme Court rejected her appeal to revive the original indictment. Full details on defendants, charges, and what’s next in this high-stakes election interference prosecution.

17GEN4.com

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