Fake electors still donating to Trump despite some facing criminal charges in scheme to overturn 2020 election

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A number of fake electors who attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election have donated to Donald Trump as recently as this year, financial records show.

Fake electors have continued to donate thousands to Trump, his running mate JD Vance and other Republicans despite some of them facing criminal charges for their role in the 2020 election.

One includes former co-chair of the Michigan Republican party, Meshawn Maddock, who has given more than $1,800 to Trump and allied fundraising groups this year, records on the Federal Election Commission database show.

Maddock is one of 16 fake electors criminally charged by the Democratic Michigan attorney general, Dana Nessel. The 16 met in the basement of the state’s Republican Party headquarters and signed certificates falsely claiming that they were “the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America for the state of Michigan,” Nessel said in prepared remarks last year. Maddock has pleaded not guilty.

Records also show Tyler Bowyer, who is being prosecuted in Arizona for his role as a fake elector, donated $645 to Trump this year. Bowyer, who pleads not guilty to the charges, is the chief operating officer of Turning Point USA, a non-profit advocating for conservative values in schools.

One of the largest donations to Trump this year was $25,000 from David Hanna, a fake elector from Georgia who was not criminally charged. Another fake elector in Georgia, Daryl Moody, donated $2,900 to Vance in 2022.

Michael Beckel, research director at election watchdog group Issue One, told The Guardian it was “incredibly rare for politicians to accept campaign contributions from people under indictment”.

He told the newspaper: “It’s generally not good optics for politicians to accept money from people accused of serious wrongdoing. Political candidates generally don’t want to be tied to convicted or accused felons. Yet in certain circles, association with the people who served as fake electors for Donald Trump in 2020 may be a badge of honor.

“Former President Trump likely has fewer qualms about accepting campaign cash from people under indictment for serving as fake electors in 2020 than the typical politician.”

The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.

In June, a judge in Nevada dismissed the state’s case against six fake electors on procedural grounds, marking the first time that a case related to Trump’s attempts to reject election results had been dismissed.

Earlier this month Special Counsel Jack Smith sought a delay in Trump’s election interference case to give prosecutors more time to propose next steps in light of the Supreme Court’s unprecedented ruling around presidential immunity.

Smith’s office indicted Trump in August 2023 over his allegedly “criminal scheme” to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory by installing slates of “fake electors” in states he lost, ordering the Justice Department to conduct “sham election crime investigations” and pressuring then-vice president Mike Pence to “alter the election results,” then failing to stop a mob that sought to do it be force.

The Republican presidential nominee pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The case was frozen in District Judge Tanya Chutkan‘s courtroom since February, pending a ruling from the Supreme Court on the former president’s argument that he had “immunity” from prosecution over acts carried out while in office.

On July 1, the conservative-leaning court handed down its ruling, granting Trump and future presidents “absolute” immunity for “official” acts — but not “unofficial” acts — in office.