PHOENIX – Allies of the former president donald trump Pleaded innocent Tuesday in Arizona to charges related to their involvement in a plot to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
The 11 people indicted on Tuesday include Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and so-called “fake voters” who signed documents claiming to be Arizona Electoral College voters, even though the now-president Joe Biden narrowly won the state and Arizona certified its victory.
Others indicted Tuesday were former Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward and her husband Michael Ward; state legislator Anthony Kern; Robert Montgomery, former chairman of the Cochise County Republican Party; Republican Party activists Samuel Moorhead, Nancy Cottle and Loraine Pellegrino; Greg Safsten, former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party; former Trump lawyer Christina Bobb; and Tyler Bowyer, a Republican National Committee committeeman in Arizona and director of operations at Trump-aligned Turning Point Action.
Giuliani, Bowyer, Cottle, Montgomery, Pellegrino and Bobb appeared virtually.
They were among 18 people charged last month by a state grand jury in connection with the plan.
The accused “fake voters” and their alleged accomplices face fraud, forgery and conspiracy charges, which were announced last month by state Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom after the Wards pleaded not guilty, their attorney Brad Miller said “no crime has been defined by the Attorney General’s office” and stated that “[the case is] a First Amendment issue.”
Several of the defendants in this Arizona case were also charged with similar charges in Georgiawhere prosecutors also allege that Trump’s allies tried to overturn the election in that country.
In recent weeks, all defendants except Giuliani have received indictment notices in this case. He even taunted Mayes in a now-deleted social media postbragging about evading charging documents.
He was Finally served on Friday nightduring his 80th birthday party in Palm Beach, Florida.
“We essentially found him through his live streams. He’s not that hard to find,” Mayes told CNN on Monday.
“Our officers attended to him professionally after his birthday party as the party was ending,” she added.
Another Trump ally indicted along with those who were indicted on Tuesday is former Trump lawyer John Eastman. He declared himself innocent in this case last week.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
