by Jeniffer Solis, Nevada Current
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford defended his measured investigation of Nevada’s fake electors Wednesday. Ford characterized his office’s indictment of the Trump-aligned electors as a “lose-lose proposition,” but said he hoped the indictments would discourage additional attempts to undermine the integrity of Nevada’s elections. .
“I know there are those who wish I had acted sooner,” Ford told reporters. “But as any good lawyer or investigator knows, you act at the exact pace that you need to act. I do not value speed over thoroughness – especially when it comes to the law and ensuring justice.”
Earlier this month, Ford indicted six Republicans who attempted to award Nevada’s electoral college votes to former President Donald Trump as part of a coordinated attempt made by the Trump re-election campaign and allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
There has never been any question that the fake electors did what they did. They themselves publicized it.
Yet even after a House committee investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol subpoenaed and took depositions from two of Nevada’s fake electors — which made clear they were told by Trump campaign officials that what they were doing was unlawful — Ford stayed largely mum on the potential for criminal charges, saying repeatedly that his office does not comment on investigations.
Wednesday, Ford told reporters his office chose to neither confirm nor deny the existence of the investigation until earlier this month to protect the integrity of the investigation.
“We’ve been conducting this investigation for years to gather as many facts and as much evidence necessary to pursue justice,” Ford said during a press conference at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building.
Lack of communication with the public about the investigation led to “erroneous facts” taking hold, Ford acknowledged, but he maintained that discretion was “the best approach to ensure our investigations and, eventually, our prosecutions, are not tainted.”
Ford dismissed suggestions that his investigation into Nevada’s fake electors did not start until this November, adding that it has been active for at least a year. The lengthy investigation was necessary to gather “sufficient facts and evidence to support each and every element of the crimes,” Ford said.
“I don’t feel compelled to justify the length of my investigation. My prosecutors and my investigators have worked diligently to ensure that we have facts and evidence to support every element of the crimes we’re prosecuting,” Ford said.
The six Republicans are being charged with offering a false instrument for filing, a category C felony, and uttering a forged instrument, a category D felony. The false instrument in question is a “Certificate of the Votes of the 2020 Electors from Nevada” intended to be filed, registered or recorded with the president of the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Archivist, the Nevada Secretary of State, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
Nevada’s fake electors have remained at the heart of Nevada Republican politics, despite also being at the heart of a coordinated plot to undermine the 2020 presidential election, a plot which was accompanied by an assault on the U.S. Capital on January 6, 2021.
Michael McDonald has remained chair of the Nevada State Republican Party and a loyal Trump ally. Degrading the integrity of Nevada’s elections, McDonald and his party objected to Nevada’s statutorily required presidential preference primary on Feb. 6, instead orchestrating a party-run caucus on Feb. 8, with Trump’s blessing.
Another fake elector, Jim DeGraffenried, is now the Nevada State Republican National Committeeman. Jim DeGraffenreid was recently invited by the Nevada Secretary of State’s office to make an educational presentation to an Advisory Committee on Participatory Democracy.
Clark County Republican Party chair, Jesse Law, another fake elector, announced a run for Nevada State Assembly earlier this month.
McDonald and other fake electors have never stopped trying to undermine and discredit the integrity of Nevada elections. In emails promoting its presidential caucus earlier this year, the McDonald-led state party said mail-in ballots “litter the streets like trash,” condemned the lack of voter ID requirements, and asserted that “Democrat election officials count the ballots in secret.”
When asked if he hoped prosecuting the indictments would curb Nevada’s fake electors from continuing to undermine the integrity of Nevada’s elections through the 2024 campaign cycle, Ford said “Yes. I hope so.”
Due to the nature of the charges, Ford said he expects his office to face “partisan attacks as a response to these indictments” and be “accused of delaying for political purposes.”
Ford suggested his lengthy investigation into Nevada’s fake electors was a political minefield, calling it a “lose-lose proposition” for his office.
“Move quickly and be accused of rushing to judgment for political purposes. Take your time to secure sufficient facts and evidence to prove each and every element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt and be accused of delaying for political purposes,” Ford said.
Based on a review of the evidence Ford said his office is extremely confident they can successfully prosecute all charges against Nevada’s fake electors.
“We have been receiving new evidence even up until this very moment that will be very helpful,” Ford said. Ford declined to describe that new evidence.
Ford also addressed comments he made to the Nevada Legislature earlier this year, where he stated that there’s no state statute that directly addresses the issue of fake electors, and defended the need for a specific law that does so.
“This was true then, and it remains true now,” Ford said. “There is no statute that criminalizes attempting to pass yourself off as an elector when you are not one. Nor is there a statute that criminalizes fake-elector schemes,” Ford said.
During the legislative session, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 133, which would make creating, conspiring to create, or serving on a false slate of electors a category B felony. That bill, however, was eventually vetoed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.
“The fact that we have general laws that apply to conduct has never foreclosed the legislature from passing laws to specifically and directly address that conduct,” Ford continued.
A press conference on the indictment was originally scheduled last week, before being canceled in light of the mass shooting at UNLV that resulted in the deaths of three educators. Ford began the press conference by honoring the victims with a moment of silence.
The arraignment for the indictments is scheduled for Dec. 18, according to Ford’s office.
Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: [email protected]. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and Twitter.
