Prosecutor asks Arizona Supreme Court to review decision that stalled fake elector case

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PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s attorney general announced Friday that she is appealing a ruling that has stalled the criminal case against President Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others for trying to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in the state.

Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office said it is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to review a lower-court ruling that sent the sprawling case back to a grand jury.

Friday was Mayes’ deadline to tell the court whether she would appeal. Otherwise, she risked the case being dismissed.

“An independent grand jury of ordinary Arizonans found that there was sufficient cause to charge the defendants with the alleged crimes,” Mayes said in a statement. “These defendants were charged based on two things: the facts and the law. We remain squarely focused on ensuring the defendants are held accountable because there is nothing more important than enforcing the rule of law.”

There has been no movement in the case at the trial court level in six months after a judge concluded grand jurors hadn’t been shown the text of a law that governs the certification of presidential contests and was invoked by those charged in defending themselves.

Defense lawyers argued the law allowed for multiple slates of electors to be submitted to Congress in case the results were disputed.

A Republican activist pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, and charges were dismissed against Jenna Ellis, a lawyer for Trump’s 2020 campaign, as part of an agreement with prosecutors. The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Michael Columbo, an attorney who represents state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who is charged in the case, said in a statement that the court already made a preliminary finding that Mayes pursued the case to punish the defendants for lawfully exercising their constitutional rights.

“We hope that she will use the extra time she purchased by filing this petition to reach the decision that is right and just for the defendants and the people of Arizona, which is to dismiss the case,” Columbo said. Mark Williams, an attorney for Giuliani, said he believes the state’s highest court will reject Mayes’ petition for review. Williams said the case was brought to punish the defendants for supporting Trump and to advance Mayes’ political interests.

Joe Biden won Arizona in 2020 by 10,457 votes.

A judge threw out a similar case in Michigan in September. And last year, a special prosecutor dropped a federal case alleging Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Cases related to alleged fake elector schemes remain in Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin, but none are near the trial stage.

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Montoya reported from Albuquerque.