On Friday, Attorney John Eastman entered a not guilty plea to conspiracy, fraud, and forgery charges relating to his alleged role in challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Eastman is accused of devising a strategy to persuade Congress not to certify the election, making him the first of 18 individuals charged in Arizona’s fake elector case to be arraigned.
Outside the courthouse, Mr.
Eastman denied any wrongdoing and stated his belief that he would be cleared of all charges.
He claimed to have had no communications with the electors in Arizona and no involvement in any election litigation or legislative hearings in the state.
I believe I will be fully exonerated at the end of this process,” Eastman said, declining further comment.
Electors are appointed by states to officially cast their electoral votes within the U.S.
Electoral College System during presidential elections.
Arraignments for the 12 other individuals charged in the case are scheduled for May 21st.
This includes nine of the eleven Republicans who had submitted a document to Congress declaring former President Donald Trump as the victor in Arizona.
According to the indictment, Mr.
Eastman “encouraged the Republican electors to vote on December 14th, 2020, and spread false claims of widespread election fraud.” Former President Trump was not charged in the case but is referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator who “spread false claims of election fraud following the 2020 election.
No charges have been announced publicly against former New York City Mayor and lawyer Rudi Giuliani, who can be easily identified based on descriptions of defendants in the indictment.
Authorities have been unable to serve Mr.
Giuliani with a notice of charges; thus, no arraignment date has been set for him.
Former Chief of Staff for President Trump, Mark Meadows, is scheduled for arraignment on June 7th.
In 2023, Mr.
Eastman was indicted on racketeering and conspiracy charges in relation to his alleged role in a plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.
He has also pleaded not guilty to these charges.
In Washington, a federal indictment filed against President Trump names Mr.
Eastman as an indicted co-conspirator for allegedly working to overturn the 2020 election results in the days leading up to the incident at the U.S.
Capitol on January 6th, 2021.
Arizona is now the fourth state where President Trump’s allies have been indicted for claiming that the 2020 election results were tainted by fraud.
The eleven people nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on December 14th, 2020, to sign a certificate stating they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that President Trump was the state’s winner.
The Arizona Republican Party posted a one-minute video of the signing ceremony on social media at the time.
The certificate was sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.
Out of the eight lawsuits challenging Arizona’s presidential election outcome, one was filed by one of the eleven fake electors, who had asked a federal judge to decertify the results and block the state of Arizona from sending results to the Electoral College.
The judge dismissed the case, citing that the Republicans had “failed to provide the court with factual support for their extraordinary claims.” Within days of the case being dismissed, the eleven people signed the certificate.
Multiple attempts have been made in person to serve Mr.
Giuliani with the notice, but a doorman at his New York City apartment would not accept it on his behalf, according to Richie Taylor, a spokesman for Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose office is prosecuting the case.
Mr.
Taylor said that the attorney general’s office has also been unsuccessful in reaching the former mayor by phone.