An Arizona judge who has previously expressed sympathy for President Donald Trump's election deniers just delivered a major blow to them.
A judge in Arizona — who already dismissed charges against Trump allies for their role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election results — has rejected their effort to block the state from trying to re-indict them," tweeted Politico journalist Kyle Cheney on Tuesday.
In his ruling, Judge Sam J. Myers argued that "the Court has considered the requests for a dismissal with prejudice contained in the Defendants’ responses to the State’s Motion to Dismiss and in Defendant John Eastman’s Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to A.R.S. §13-12-751(B) and the joinders thereto. Defendants have cited, among other factors, the passage of time, the amount of money spent, the stress caused to the Defendants, fundamental fairness, and the interests of justice."
He concluded, "While the Court does not discount the significance of those circumstances, the Court finds that the interests of justice do not require a dismissal with prejudice."
This continues a pattern of Trump and his supporters being disappointed in the courts. More than 20 judges from both parties have unanimously rejected his efforts to force states to share voter information with him, characterizing his efforts as a threat to democracy and the separation of powers between the federal government and states. Trump's politically-motivated prosecutions have also decimated the judiciary's trust in his Department of Justice, with experts saying that many suspect his prosecutors lie to the courts in order to do the president's bidding.
“Ordinarily, the first order of business would be restoring DOJ's political independence and restoring DOJ's credibility in the courts, but it doesn't seem that Blanche is super interested in either of those,” CNN legal analyst Elie Honig told CNN anchor Brianna Keilar on Monday. “Those are the two biggest issues facing the department right now — the fact that they have undertaken and are still in the midst of several prosecutions aimed at people, in large part or entirely, because they are political enemies of the president.”
This leaves the door wide open for prosecutors to bring fresh charges against the defendants, extending a costly and stressful legal battle they desperately hoped to escape. Legal experts note that this decision highlights a growing fatigue among judges who are increasingly unwilling to shield political actors from accountability. As public confidence in the justice system wavers amid accusations of political bias, this ruling serves as a stark reminder that even sympathetic courts draw a hard line at stopping active prosecutions. The defense now faces a steep uphill climb to avoid a second round of indictments in Arizona.
