2020 fake electors acted 'at the direction' of Trump: lawsuit
A lawsuit filed in Michigan on Monday alleges that the sixteen electors who fraudulently certified that former President Donald Trump had won the state after he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020 acted "at the direction" of Trump, The Detriot News' Craig Mauger reports.
"The document was submitted Monday by lawyer Paul Stablein, who's representing false Trump elector Amy Facchinello of Grand Blanc. It draws one of the strongest connections yet between the efforts of the 16 Republicans in Michigan who are now facing felony charges and Trump," Mauger writes. "An attorney for Trump was present at the Dec. 14, 2020, meeting of the Republican electors in Lansing and advised the Michigan group 'that performance of their duties was necessary on behalf of the president and the Constitution,' Stablein's filing said."
Stablein argued, per Mauger, "Attorneys for the president specifically instructed Ms. Facchinello that the Republican electors' meeting and casting their ballots on Dec. 14, 2020, was consistent with counsels' advice and was necessary to preserve the presidential election contest."
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Mauger recalls, "Democrat Joe Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes or 3 percentage points in 2020, but Trump and his supporters maintained false and unproven claims that fraud swung the result. On Dec. 14, 2020, the 16 false electors gathered inside Michigan Republican Party headquarters and signed a document claiming that Trump had won the state's 16 electoral votes."
Mauger continues, "Stablein's new filing attempted to convince the federal court in Michigan's Western District to move Facchinello's prosecution out of state court in Ingham County and into the federal system. One of his arguments was Facchinello and the other Michigan Republicans were acting under federal policies and at the direction of federal officers."
Mauger adds, "The Trump supporters then submitted the false certificate to Congress and the National Archives in an attempt to challenge the results of the election when federal lawmakers met on Jan. 6, 2021, to tally states' votes."
READ MORE: Michigan AG indicts 16 people in Trump fake electors plot: report
View Mauger's analysis at this link.
