PHOENIX — A three-day hearing on whether to dismiss charges against Republicans accused of conspire to overturn the results Arizona’s close 2020 presidential election concluded Wednesday with prosecutors insisting their case is not politically motivated after defendants argued their alleged conduct fell under constitutionally protected free speech rights.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen is considering requests from at least a dozen 18 persons in April to drop fraud, conspiracy and forgery charges. Those charged in the case include 11 people who filed a document falsely claiming Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden in Arizona, two former Trump associates and five lawyers with ties to Trump, including Rudy Giuliani.
Trump was not charged, but was described in the indictment as an unindicted accomplice.
The indictment alleges that Giuliani pressured Maricopa County officials and state lawmakers to change the election results and encouraged Republican electors in the state to vote for Trump in mid-December 2020. The indictment alleges that Giuliani spread false claims about election fraud in Arizona and chaired a rally in downtown Phoenix where officials he alleges made no effort to determine the accuracy of the presidential election results.
District Attorney Nicholas Klingerman told the judge Wednesday that the indictments were brought by an Arizona grand jury and that the prosecution is not driven by hostility toward Republicans.
“This prosecution is nothing more than enforcing the law against those accused of committing fraud, forgery and conspiracy to change the outcome of a legitimate election because they were unhappy with the results,” Klingerman said. “And like all criminal prosecutions, it seeks to punish past behavior, educate the public and deter future attempts to do the same.”
“The fact is the state has asked the grand jury to consider not indicting more Republicans than the grand jury has actually indicted,” Klingerman added. “The state has asked the grand jury to consider not indicting Donald Trump.”
In a statement issued after the hearing, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes described the defendants’ motions as an attempt to “distract attention from the facts of this case and muddy the waters in public.”
“Let me be clear: the charges in this case were not politically motivated,” Mayes said.
Defense attorneys argued that Mayes used the indictment to silence their clients’ constitutionally protected speech about the 2020 election and actions taken in response to the results.
On Wednesday, they cited an Arizona law that prohibits the use of baseless legal actions to silence critics. They also said Mayes campaigned on polling fake voters and showed bias against Trump and his supporters.
The law in question, commonly referred to as an anti-SLAPP law, had long provided protections against civil lawsuits until it was amended by the Republican-led Legislature in 2022 to protect people facing most criminal charges.
It states that in a lawsuit involving the lawful exercise of certain rights, such as the right to free speech, individuals may file a motion to dismiss and must show that the lawsuit is “substantially motivated” by a “desire to deter, retaliate against, or prevent the lawful exercise of a constitutional right.”
According to a spokesperson for Mayes, the anti-SLAPP law has not been used in a criminal case since it was amended in 2022.
Prosecutors argue that Arizona law does not apply to the case. But the judge pressed Klingerman on Wednesday about what he saw as illegal acts allegedly committed by the defendants.
“I’m really concerned about the difference between speaking and acting,” Cohen said.
Cohen said Tuesday that he would rule on each motion separately, possibly at different times, but he did not indicate when he would make the rulings on Wednesday.
Former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis, who worked closely with Giuliani, signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors leading to the dropping of her charges. Republican activist Loraine Pellegrino became the first person to be convicted in the Arizona case, where she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to probation.
The remaining suspects have pleaded not guilty. Their trial is scheduled to begin on January 5, 2026.
Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is tries to move his charges to a federal court, where his attorneys say they will seek dismissal.
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Gabriel Sandoval, an Associated Press editor in Phoenix, contributed to this report.