Arizona officials continue their investigation into the fake electors plot in their state, focusing attention on former GOP chair Kelli Ward and her husband, both of whom allegedly signed on as fake electors to a false election certificate after she expressed doubts about the legality of the scheme, Rolling Stone reports.
Ward and her husband, Michael, and nine other Republicans signed an forged document claiming they were the legitimate Electoral College appointees even thought Joe Biden was declared the certified winner of the state. Arizona is one of at least seven states where such a ploy happened in an attempt to undermine the respective state’s legitimate voter choice.
However, Ward and fellow Arizona GOP official Kathy Townsend, a state senator, questioned the legality of the move, something Trump lawyer and Co-conspirator 5 took note of in an email to his fellow henchmen: “Ward and Townsend are concerned it could appear treasonous for the AZ electors to vote on Monday if there is no pending court proceeding that might, eventually, lead to the electors being ratified as the legitimate ones,” Chesebro wrote in an email.
Arizona investigators are concentrating in particular on the steps that happened after Ward and Townsend voiced their skepticism to push them to sign the fake document, including when Ward talked to Donald Trump himself or other key players, and what her stated position after these calls was. This could play into prosecutors’ efforts to show Trump and his team understood their scheme was illegal, but still pushed and pressured state Republican officials to carry out the plan.