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The cases are part of a year-long investigation by Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays (D), whose office has indicated it plans to conclude the criminal investigation soon.
Politico reported earlier Wednesday that the Arizona investigation had subpoenaed people associated with Trump’s 2020 campaign. This was revealed by a person familiar with the subpoena.
The subpoena appears to focus on electoral planner Kenneth Chesebro, who met with Arizona investigators in December, the person said. Chesebro did not respond to requests for comment. Other Republican members of Congress who were aware of developments in the Electoral College program have also been contacted as part of the investigation, the people said.
The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
The developments in Arizona come after pro-Trump political activists arrested the state on December 14, 2020, as part of a plan to use invalid electors to prevent Biden’s victory on January 6. This is a sign that Mays is deepening his investigation into how the group gathered at party headquarters. , 2021, while Congress is counting electoral votes.
Prosecutors in Georgia, Michigan and Nevada have indicted electors who supported Trump. The investigation in Arizona could pose new legal risks for Republicans in the politically competitive state, which Trump lost by about 11,000 votes in 2020.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all four pending criminal charges. One of the cases, related to hush money payments to a porn star, is scheduled to go to trial this month. Three of his others are plagued by delays and may or may not start before the election.
The subpoena against Republican electors in Arizona comes days after new documents related to elector strategy were released as part of a legal settlement in Wisconsin. As part of a civil settlement, Chesebro and James Tropis, who oversaw Trump’s legal efforts in Wisconsin, will release a trove of emails and text messages about their activities after the 2020 election. agreed. The records reveal further details about Trump’s interactions with the Trump campaign and state party officials during campaign strategy.
Mr. Chesebro’s record is nothing new to Arizona prosecutors and law enforcement officials, according to people familiar with the investigation. They met with Trump last year after he pleaded guilty in Georgia to a single felony charge of participating in a conspiracy to submit false documents for his role in organizing pro-Trump electors.
Taken together, Chesebro and Tropis’ records describe their efforts to implement plans by Republicans in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico to falsely claim that Trump won each state. It is clear that there was an exchange between the two. In Arizona, records show Chesebro was communicating with then-state Republican Party Chairman Kerry Ward. Greg Safsten, the party’s executive director, was also an elector. local lawyer. Trump campaign officials and others related to the same campaign.
Mr. Chesebro prepared certificate templates for voters to sign and answered Ward’s questions about the names and titles listed on those drafts, which were later changed. Records show Mr. Chesebro sent instructions to Mr. Ward, Mr. Safsten, Trump campaign officials and a local attorney on how to carry out the plan, including how to seal and send envelopes containing documents. He also proposed language for parties to publish after documents are signed to “minimize the potential for voter harassment.”
Two days before the gathering of Arizona Republicans, records show Ward emailed Trump campaign officials about the effort.
“I spoke directly to Rudy and told him we are working to ensure we accomplish what we set out to do,” she wrote.
Patrick Marley in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
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