LAS VEGAS– A list of six Nevada Republicans have again been accused of subjugation a fake certificate to Congress who declared Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford made the announcement Thursday false voter case had been revived in Carson City, the capital, where he filed a new complaint this week accusing the defendants of “uttering a forged instrument,” a misdemeanor. The original indictment read fired earlier this year after a state judge ruled that Clark County, the state’s most populous county and home to Las Vegas, was the wrong location for the case.
Ford, a Democrat, said the new case was filed as a precaution to prevent the statute of limitations from running out while the Nevada Supreme Court reviews his appeal of the judge’s ruling.
“While we disagree with the improper venue finding and will continue to seek to overturn it, we maintain our legal rights to ensure that these bogus voters do not escape justice,” Ford said. “The actions the fake voters took in 2020 violated Nevada criminal law and were direct attempts to both sow doubt in our democracy and undermine the results of a free and fair election. Justice demands that these acts not go unpunished.”
Officials have said it was part of a larger plan in seven battleground states to keep Trump in the White House after the defeat by Democrat Joe Biden. Criminal cases have also been filed Michigan, Georgia And Arizona.
Trump lost in 2020 against Biden by more than 30,000 votes in Nevada. An investigation by then-Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, found no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state.
The defendants are chairmen of the state GOP Michael McDonald; Clark County GOP Chairman Jesse Law; National Party Committee Member Jim DeGraffenreid; national and Douglas County committee member Shawn Meehan; Storey County Clerk Jim Hindle; and Eileen Rice, a party member from the Lake Tahoe area.
In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, McDonald’s attorney Richard Wright called the new complaint a political move by a Democratic attorney general who also announced Thursday that he plans to run for governor in 2026 .
“We will withhold further comment and discuss the issues in court,” said Wright, who has spoken frequently in court on behalf of all six defendants.
Attorneys for the others did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Their lawyers previously argued that Ford improperly brought the case before a grand jury in Democratic-leaning Las Vegas, rather than in a northern Nevada city where the alleged crimes took place.
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Associated Press writer Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this report.