Former Michigan GOP co-chair pleads not guilty to false elector charges
- Former state GOP chair Meshawn Maddock pleads not guilty to several felonies, says she did nothing wrong
- She and others are accused of filing paperwork falsely claiming Trump won Michigan in 2020
- Attorney General Dana Nessel brought the charges and said the actions ‘undermined the public’s faith in the integrity of our elections’
Meshawn Maddock, former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, has pleaded not guilty to eight felony charges on accusations she and others filed paperwork falsely claiming Donald Trump won Michigan in 2020 in an effort to keep him in the White House.
Maddock, 55, of Milford, is one of 16 people facing charges related to the so-called “false electors” scheme to swing Michigan’s Electoral College votes to Trump even though Democrat Joe Biden won the state by 154,188 votes.
Maddock entered the plea Tuesday at an arraignment in Ingham County. She did not have an attorney present, was released on $1,000 bond and cannot travel out of state and cannot possess firearms, per court records.
Fellow defendant Mari-Ann Henry of Brighton was also arraigned and pleaded not guilty.
Related:
- ‘I have been indicted,’ says suspect in Michigan vote machine tampering probe
- Michigan removes clerk charged in ‘false electors’ scheme from election duty
- Michigan electors scheme: What to know about the 16 Trump backers charged
- Sixteen Michigan Trump loyalists face felonies in ‘false elector’ scheme
Others charged, including Kathy Berden, Michigan's Republican national committeewoman; Shelby Township Clerk Stanley Grot and Wyoming Mayor Kent Vanderwood, have arraignments scheduled for Aug. 10.
The 16 Trump electors facing felony charges
- Kathy Berden, 70, of Snover
- William (Hank) Choate, 72, of Cement City
- Amy Facchinello, 55, of Grand Blanc
- Clifford Frost, 75, of Warren
- Stanley Grot, 71, of Shelby Township
- John Haggard, 82, of Charlevoix
- Mari-Ann Henry, 65, of Brighton
- Timothy King, 56, of Ypsilanti
- Michele Lundgren, 73, of Detroit
- Meshawn Maddock, 55, of Milford
- James Renner, 76, of Lansing
- Mayra Rodriguez, 64, of Grosse Pointe Farms
- Rose Rook, 81, of Paw Paw
- Marian Sheridan, 69, of West Bloomfield
- Ken Thompson, 68, of Orleans
- Kent Vanderwood, 69, of Wyoming
Maddock and Henry are currently scheduled to return to court Aug. 4 for probable cause conferences, court records show.
Each defendant faces felony counts ranging from conspiracy and election law forgery to forgery and uttering and publishing. Most of the charges are punishable by up to 14 years in prison, while others are five-year felonies.
In a statement announcing the charges last week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said their actions “undermined the public’s faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan.”
Michigan Republican Party activists and elected officials have publicly defended Maddock and others. Some supporters have started fundraising accounts for the defendants’ legal fees.
Maddock, who was GOP state co-chair from 2021 to 2023 and served alongside Ann Arbor developer Ron Weiser, is married to Rep. Matt Maddock.
In an interview with conservative talk show host Steve Gruber, Maddock she has done nothing wrong, arguing that the Dec. 14, 2020, meeting of electors was never a secret, noting, “we showed up when we were asked to and signed the paperwork.”
She accused Nessel in the interview of working with federal investigators to dismantle Trump’s current presidential campaign by “prosecuting and jailing all of his top leaders.”
"The Democrats know that they cannot beat Trump in 2024, so they have to use lawfare," she said in the interview.
Democratic officials, including Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes, applauded Nessel for taking steps to charge those involved in efforts to undermine Michigan election results.
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