The House select committee investigating the Capitol riot announced Friday subpoenas against more than a dozen people involved in devising Electoral College certificates that falsely declared former President Donald Trump the winner across several states in the 2020 election.
The committee wants a deposition and documents from those 14 officials who participated as “alternate electors” for Trump in states won by President Joe Biden to learn why the certificates were made, who was behind the scheme, and whether any of the officials had any involvement in the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATING FAKE 2020 TRUMP ELECTOR CERTIFICATES
“The Select Committee is seeking information about attempts in multiple states to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including the planning and coordination of efforts to send false slates of electors to the National Archives,” Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement. “We believe the individuals we have subpoenaed today have information about how these so-called alternate electors met and who was behind that scheme.”
The committee said Friday allies of Trump used the fake slates of electors sent to Congress to justify blocking certification of the election on Jan. 6. The panel said “groups of individuals” met Dec. 14, 2020, in seven states Biden won and then sent the alternate certificates.
The purported certificates contained signatures from officials claiming to be Trump electors in states that Biden won. They were sent to the National Archives after the 2020 election and purported to represent Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The documents were published by government watchdog American Oversight last March.
The documents for New Mexico and Pennsylvania contained a note saying the certificates were prepared in case it was determined that Trump actually won in those states. At the time, Trump was challenging the election results in various courts across the country, claiming election fraud. Court challenges to the 2020 election results were roundly unsuccessful. The Electoral College voted Biden in as president, and the real certificates for the 2020 electors are on the National Archives website.
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The fake certificates have drawn legal scrutiny from the Justice Department and multiple attorneys general from those states. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas recently announced that they turned over information on the fake electors to federal prosecutors. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco confirmed Tuesday that the Justice Department was investigating the fake certificates.
The 14 subpoenaed individuals, who the panel said are listed as chairperson and secretary of each group of alternate electors, include Nancy Cottle of Arizona, Loraine B. Pellegrino of Arizona, David Shafer of Georgia, Shawn Still of Georgia, Kathy Berden of Michigan, Mayra Rodriguez of Michigan, Jewll Powdrell of New Mexico, Deborah W. Maestas of New Mexico, Michael J. McDonald of Nevada, James DeGraffenreid of Nevada, Bill Bachenberg of Pennsylvania, Lisa Patton of Pennsylvania, Andrew Hitt of Wisconsin, and Kelly Ruh of Wisconsin.
At least one of the individuals subpoenaed said he will comply with the committee’s demands.
Hitt, who stepped down as the chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party last year, said he will cooperate, according to the Milwaukee Journal. He said he followed legal advice when he purported to be an elector last year but did not specify who gave him the advice.
