Michigan prosecutor describes false elector plot as 'conspiracy' linked to Trump campaign

Lansing — A Michigan prosecutor described Wednesday the effort to submit false certificates claiming Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election as a "multi-state criminal conspiracy that was absolutely linked" to Trump's campaign.

The comments made by Kahla Crino, an assistant attorney general, in Ingham County District Court were the most direct connection yet made by Michigan investigators between the Republican former president and a plot to reverse his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Crino's remarks and the testimony of James Renner, one of the 16 Michigan Republicans who signed the false certificate, highlighted the fourth day of preliminary examinations in the cases against six of the GOP electors.

At one point Wednesday, Garett Koger, the lawyer for elector Kathy Berden, argued his client had no criminal intent when she signed the document. The strategy of submitting a certificate saying Trump had won was based on the events of Hawaii's contested 1960 presidential election, Koger said.

"The people do not dispute that this became inspiration for a multi-state criminal conspiracy that was absolutely linked to the Trump campaign," Crino replied on the topic of Hawaii's 1960 presidential election. "We certainly agree with that."

"But inspiration for how to steal an election is not the same as legal precedent," she added.

Trump's efforts to overturn his loss to Biden in 2020 continue to loom over the Republican's bid for his party's presidential nomination to challenge Biden in the 2024 election.

In July, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel brought felony forgery charges against the 16 Republicans who signed certificates on Dec. 14, 2020, attesting that Trump had won the state's election and its 16 electoral votes. Biden had actually beaten Trump by 154,000 votes or 3 percentage points, 51%-48%, in Michigan.

Evidence that's been gathered by state prosecutors as part of the cases, including internal emails and testimony, has pointed to Trump's reelection campaign helping to organize the certificate effort. Nessel has said her investigation into the matter is ongoing.

"As always, as good investigators and prosecutors, we will go where the evidence takes us," Nessel said in an interview in January.

Trump and his campaign have previously criticized allegations that he acted improperly after the 2020 presidential election.

"Trump was carrying out his duty as president to investigate the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election," Steven Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesperson, said in a statement on Jan. 4.

More:Trump campaign recognized legal risks of false electors, still went forward

Hot chocolate and pizza

Renner of Lansing testified Wednesday that the false electors were told the GOP-controlled Michigan Senate had the power to "accept" their certificate incorrectly claiming Trump had won the 2020 presidential election.

Renner's testimony was another indication that supporters of Trump were hoping that Michigan GOP lawmakers would intervene in Trump's loss.

The Republican electors posed for a group photo and were offered hot chocolate and pizza at a hotel in downtown Lansing after unsuccessfully attempting to deliver the false certificate to the Michigan Capitol, Renner said

“The purpose was to present the slate of candidates because we were told that the representatives and senators had the ability to accept our slate of candidates versus the Democratic slate of candidates," Renner said.

Renner previously reached a cooperation deal with Nessel's office. Through the agreement, Nessel's office dropped eight felony charges against him. The other 15 false electors continue to face charges of forgery and conspiracy to commit forgery.

The fourth day of preliminary examinations for six of them began in Ingham County District Court at about 9 a.m. Wednesday. In the exams, Judge Kristen Simmons will eventually decide whether prosecutors have presented enough evidence for the cases to proceed to trial.

Nessel's team has argued that the 16 Republicans had an intent to defraud when they signed the certificate falsely claiming they were the state's "duly elected and qualified" presidential electors.

Trump's campaign later attempted to use the false certificate to challenge and overturn in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, the loss to Biden.

More:Trump's campaign guided filing of Michigan's false electors certificate, emails show

'An appropriate process'

Defense lawyers for the false electors continued to argue on Wednesday that their clients were following the guidance of GOP lawyers, didn't intend to do anything wrong and were simply attempting to provide a contingency in case a court eventually declared Trump the winner.

Koger said the plan to submit an alternate electoral certificate was based on there being two separate slates of electors — one Democratic and one Republican — in Hawaii in 1960 in a presidential race that was recounted between Democrat John Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon.

"If the lawyers were relying upon 1960 Hawaii, then they necessarily wouldn't have had the criminal intent," Koger said.

Having a criminal intent to defraud is a necessary requirement of the forgery charges that have been brought against the false electors.

In the 1960 election in Hawaii, Kennedy electors signed a certificate saying Kennedy had won the state that Nixon initially won. After a recount found that Kennedy barely won Hawaii, the electoral votes went to Kennedy.

Koger plans to call Kenneth Chesebro, a lawyer who advised the Trump campaign on the elector certificates, to appear at a future court hearing, Koger said.

The objective of the strategy, which focused on seven battleground states, was to bolster claims that the November 2020 presidential election was "rigged" and ultimately "void the results favoring" Biden, Chesebro wrote in a Jan. 1, 2021, email to Boris Epshteyn, a top Trump adviser.

But Crino said one difference between what happened in 1960 in Hawaii and what occurred in Michigan was that there was an ongoing recount at the time electors met in Hawaii. There wasn't a recount in Michigan.

Kennedy won Hawaii by 115 votes, she noted. Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes.

But Renner's testimony bolstered some of the defense lawyers' claims.

“We were told that this was an appropriate process," Renner said at one point.

Renner, like other witnesses, didn't remember which members of the Trump campaign were inside Michigan Republican Party headquarters on Dec. 14, 2020, and who specifically advised the false electors about signing the document.

He said providing a contingency in case Trump was later declared the winner of Michigan's 16 electoral votes was just one part of the goal of the false certificate. Renner acknowledged that the GOP electors "agreed" on Dec. 14, 2020 that Trump "had won."

However, the Board of State Canvassers had already certified Biden's victory.

Another purpose of the false certificate was to provide a chance for the Michigan Senate to choose to recognize the GOP electors as Michigan's official electors, Renner testified.

"It would be up to the Senate to make a decision as to which one they would select," Renner said.

A group photo

Under state law, there was no room for the Michigan Senate to choose a different slate of electors from the slate of the presidential candidate who was Michigan's certified winner. And then-Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, acknowledged in a statement on Dec. 14, 2020, that Biden had won Michigan's election.

"While there are some who still argue this should not take place, we must recognize that our feelings, our desires, and our disappointments are subordinate to the health of our democracy and the will of the majority," Shirkey said of the meeting of the Democratic electors.

After signing the false certificate inside Michigan GOP headquarters on Dec. 14, 2020, some of the false electors met at the Radisson hotel in downtown Lansing, Renner said. They then walked to the state Capitol to try to deliver their document to the Michigan Senate as the Democratic electors were meeting in the Senate chamber.

Michigan State Police personnel blocked the false electors from entering the Capitol building, which was closed to the public at the time.

Renner said the false electors were also invited by someone to return to the Radisson for pizza and hot chocolate.

On Wednesday, Renner identified the false electors who posed for a group photo inside the Michigan Republican Party headquarters on Dec. 14, 2020.

Nick Somberg, a lawyer for Meshawn Maddock, one of the false electors, argued the actions of the false electors didn't line up with people who thought they had defrauded someone.

“Have you ever had a group of criminals pose for a photo at the scene of a crime?” Somberg asked Renner at one point.

Renner, who's 77, had a background in law enforcement.

“Not that I was privy to," Renner replied.

cmauger@detroitnews.com