Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Trump aide Michael Roman pleaded not guilty Friday to nine criminal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Arizona.
The two defendants appeared virtually at separate hearings, at which their lawyers pleaded not guilty. The trial date is set for October 31.
Meadows and Roman are just two of 18 individuals charged in a broad indictment surrounding steps the defendants allegedly took to delegitimize President Biden’s 2020 victory in the state and falsely declare former President Trump the winner.
Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward and several others charged in the case pleaded not guilty to all charges last month.
Others who have been charged include the 11 individuals who signed documents claiming to be legitimate voters in Arizona and falsely claiming that Trump had won the state’s 11 electoral votes, Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, and lawyers Jenna Ellis, John Eastman and Christina Bobb.
Prosecutors accused Meadows of working with members of the Trump campaign to submit fake electors from Arizona and other states to Congress to claim that Trump had won. The indictment alleges that Roman worked with other defendants like Giuliani and Epshteyn to organize the fake voters.
Roman served as director of Election Day operations for Trump’s 2020 campaign.
Both Meadows and Roman were also charged with efforts to overturn the election results in Georgia and have pleaded not guilty. Arizona is one of five states where charges have been brought against individuals who attempted to overturn the election results.
Roman was also charged this week in Wisconsin with forgery.
Roman’s attorney, Kurt Altman, told reporters that his client would dispute the charges, saying Roman has “no connection to Arizona” and “why this charge came in the first place is beyond us.”
Epshteyn and another fake voter are scheduled to be arraigned on June 18.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
