By James Oliphant

The U.S. flag, a judge gavel and a vintage scale are seen in this illustration taken August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

Sept 9 (Reuters) – A Michigan judge dismissed criminal charges on Tuesday against a group of residents charged with illegally attempting to certify a victory by Donald Trump in the 2020 election – a blow to prosecutorial efforts to hold Trump’s allies accountable for seeking to overturn the results.

District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons ruled that the 15 defendants were legally exercising their constitutional rights when they attempted to present themselves as the state’s proper electors in the tumultuous days following the November 2020 presidential election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Ruling from the bench, Simmons said prosecutors had failed to prove intent to defraud the state. The defendants “sincerely believed, for some reason, that there were some serious irregularities with the election or with the voting,” the judge said. “This was their belief, and their actions were prompted by this belief.”

The defendants’ actions were protected by their First Amendment right to petition the government to seek redress, Simmons said.

In July 2023, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged the defendants with forgery, conspiracy and election-law related forgery for falsely claiming to be Michigan electors for Trump after Biden won the state by 154,000 votes. The charges carried possible penalties ranging from five-to-14 years in prison.

The defendants included several prominent members of the Michigan Republican Party, including Meshawn Maddock, a staunch ally of Trump’s who served as co-chair.

The defendants met covertly in the basement of the state’s Republican Party headquarters in December 2020 and signed multiple certificates stating they were the “duly elected and qualified electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America for the State of Michigan,” prosecutors said.

According to the congressional committee that investigated the U.S. Capitol attack, Trump and his allies sought to overturn his defeat by convincing Republican-controlled legislatures in battleground states to name their own Trump-friendly electors or refuse to name any electors.

The decision could impact similar fake elector cases in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin, none of which have yet gone to trial.

Simmons, a former state assistant attorney general, was appointed to the bench by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.

“It’s a true testament to the way the system is supposed to work,” John Freeman, a lawyer for one of the defendants, said after the decision, according to video posted by a local news outlet. He called the case “a politically motivated witch-hunt.”

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