Trump allies face high-stakes hearing in Arizona election subversion case

By CNN Newsource

Published August 26, 2024 2:00 AM

By Zachary Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — A judge in Arizona will hear arguments on Monday that may determine whether several allies of former President Donald Trump could likely face prison sentences if they are convicted for participating in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.

This will be the first high-stakes hearing since a grand jury handed up criminal charges against the fake electors from Arizona and several Trump allies — including the former president’s onetime attorney Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Christina Bobb, who currently serves as the Republican National Committee’s top lawyer on election integrity — earlier this year.

Lawyers for the Trump allies will argue that prosecutors are seeking an overly harsh punishment to coerce defendants to cooperate.

Arizona’s attorney general has charged the Trump allies with committing multiple felonies on the same occasion — a designation under state law that means a conviction would likely carry prison sentences rather than a lesser penalty afforded to first-time offenders.

Arizona Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen, who was appointed in 2005 by then-Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, will hear arguments from both sides during Monday’s hearing and his decision will ultimately define the stakes of the case going forward.

Prosecutors will also push back on claims that they failed to provide sufficient evidence connecting some of the defendants to an alleged conspiracy during secret grand jury proceedings.

The pivotal hearing comes just days after Trump, who has not been charged in the Arizona case but is described in court documents as “unindicted co-conspirator 1,” held a rally in the key swing state as part of his 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump has avoided having to stand trial in either of the two criminal cases where he was charged for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, but Monday’s hearing in Arizona underscores how many of those who sought to help the former president remain in power still face significant legal exposure as a result.

Most members of the grand jury in Arizona that indicted the 18 Trump allies for their alleged roles in attempting to overturn the 2020 election had also expressed interest in charging the former president.

The interest was strong enough that it prompted the state’s lead prosecutor to request that the grand jury not indict the former president and give a PowerPoint presentation to explain his reasoning, according to court documents.

Trump has been charged at the federal level for his efforts to upend Joe Biden’s legitimate 2020 election victory by special counsel Jack Smith and in Georgia by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Prosecutors will point to their request that the grand jury not indict Trump during Monday’s hearing in an effort to push back on claims by defense attorneys that the case is politically motivated and should be dismissed.

While Trump has not been charged in the Arizona election subversion case, the investigation remains ongoing and prosecutors have not closed the door on potentially indicting more people, including the former president, should evidence emerge to support making that decision, sources tell CNN.

In the meantime, prosecutors in Arizona are forging ahead with their case against the 18 others who have been charged and are eying a potential trial date in early 2025.

Arizona prosecutors secured their first victory earlier this month when former Trump 2020 campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis agreed to cooperate in exchange for the charges against her being dropped.

Ellis is expected to testify against other defendants in the criminal case as part of her deal. She was originally charged with multiple felony counts related to her alleged role in the effort to put forward fake slates of electors as part of a broader conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results on Trump’s behalf.

One of the Arizona fake electors facing state level criminal charges also reached a plea deal with prosecutors earlier this month.

Loraine Pellegrino, who signed the fraudulent document at the center of the state attorney general’s case, agreed to plead guilty to the false document charge against her and the rest of her charges were dismissed.

Like the other Arizona fake electors and Trump allies charged in the case, Pellegrino was facing multiple felonies for her alleged role in the alleged conspiracy.

The other defendants in the Arizona case, including several prominent state Republican party members and Boris Epshteyn, a former White House aide who remains one of Trump’s closest advisers, have pleaded not guilty.

Meadows hearing next month

Separately, attorneys for Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows say the Arizona indictment “squarely relates” to Meadows’ official conduct as Trump’s last chief of staff and therefore his case should be moved to federal court.

“Nothing Mr. Meadows is alleged in the indictment to have done is criminal per se. Rather, it consists of allegations that he received (and occasionally responded to) messages from people who were trying to get ideas in front of President Trump or seeking to inform Mr. Meadows about the strategy and status of various legal efforts by the President’s campaign,” they wrote in a federal court filing.

“This is precisely the kind of state interference in a federal official’s duties that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits, and that the removal statute shields from adjudication in a state court,” the attorneys argued.

US District Judge John Tuchi scheduled a hearing for September 5. Tuchi was a nominee of then-President Barack Obama.

Meadows is no stranger to the legal gambit. Last year, he mounted a similar effort in Georgia after he was indicted in Fulton County on similar 2020 election subversion state charges.