Michigan judge dismisses case against 15 alleged 'fake electors' in 2020 election

A Michigan judge has dismissed the case against 15 individuals accused of being "fake electors" for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Judge Kristen Simmons on Tuesday said she found insufficient evidence to prove the defendants acted with criminal intent.

"This is a fraud case, and we have to prove intent, and I don't believe that there's sufficient evidence to prove intent," she said during a hearing Tuesday.

"I believe that they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress, and that's based on the statements of all of the people's witnesses," said the judge. "For those reasons, these cases will not be bound over to the circuit court. Each case will be dismissed."

The case was announced in 2023 by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who charged 16 Republicans -- one of whom later cooperated with the prosecution and had his charges dropped -- with forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery.

The charges stemmed from a meeting on Dec. 14, 2020, where the group allegedly met "covertly" and signed certificates falsely claiming they were the state's duly elected electors in an effort to reelect Trump president.

During the hearing, Judge Simmons said the prosecution failed to establish that the electors intended to defraud anyone.

"This is not an election interference case," she said.

"The prosecution would like the court to believe that these named defendants were savvy or sophisticated enough to fully understand the electoral process -- which the court does disagree because the document that was presented doesn't even align with the level of sophistication that they want me to believe," Judge Simmons said.

"There's many things that could cause a pause in the electoral process, and it doesn't mean that it's criminal," said the judge.