PHOENIX (NEWSnet/AP) — An Arizona grand jury has indicted over a dozen people, accusing them of participating in an attempt to overturn Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

The indictment released Wednesday names 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won Arizona in 2020. They include the former state party chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers, who are charged with nine counts each of conspiracy, fraud and forgery.

Those named as facing charges:

  • Tyler Bowyer, an executive of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA who serves on the Republican National Committee.
  • Nancy Cottle, who in 2020 was the first vice president of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women.
  • State Sen. Jake Hoffman.
  • State Sen. Anthony Kern, who was photographed in restricted areas outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack and is now a candidate in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District.
  • James Lamon, an energy industry executive who lost a 2022 Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat.
  • Robert Montgomery, chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee in 2020.
  • Samuel Moorhead, a Republican precinct committee member in Gila County.
  • Loraine Pellegrino, past president of the Ahwatukee Republican Women.
  • Greg Safsten, a former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party.
  • Kelli Ward, the state GOP’s chair from 2019 until early 2023.
  • Michael Ward, an osteopathic physician who is married to Kelli Ward.

The identities of seven other defendants were not immediately released because they had not yet been served with the documents. Descriptions of the defendants have pointed to their likely identities.

Trump himself was not charged, but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator.

With the indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election.

The 11 people who were nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time.

The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.

Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes.

The Arizona charges come after a string of indictments against fake electors in other states.

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