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You might think that being a fake elector was a one-shot deal. You try to steal an electoral vote, fail at it, then go back home and that's it (except maybe for the indictment, trial, and possible prison part). Well, no. A number of the 2020 fake electors have not gone gentle into that good night.
In fact, nearly one-sixth of the 2020 fake electors are at it again, in various forms. In particular, 14 of the electors who took part in Donald Trump's scheme to overturn the electoral vote in 2020 are listed as Republican electors again this year. If Trump wins any of their states, they will get to cast a true electoral vote this year. If he loses their states, who knows what they will try to do.
Jessica Marsden, counsel at the nonprofit group Protect Democracy, said: "The fact that the Republican Party is going back to these individuals, despite their participation in the scheme to overturn the 2020 election, is yet another indication that the party has not repudiated the efforts to overthrow the election. In fact, in many ways, it is doubling down on it—starting with nominating former President Trump as their standard-bearer."
Trump fully understands this. In fact, he made one of the fake Nevada electors, Michael McDonald, a long-time GOP state chairman, a senior campaign adviser. This is a different Michael McDonald from the Florida professor who studies early voting patterns, or the musician who annoyed the entire staff at Smart Tech in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. The world is apparently overstuffed with Michael McDonalds. We dare not think about what the Trumpy Michael McDonald's responsibilities are. Five of the fake Pennsylvania electors are again on the slate of electors this year. So is one of the fake New Mexico electors.
Two states sent a message to the fake electors that got their attention. The Arizona AG indicted the 11 fake electors, who include two state representatives, the executive director of the Arizona Republican Party, and an executive at Turning Point USA. Even though none of them have been put on trial yet, none of them are electors this time. In Wisconsin, a progressive law firm teamed up with the Georgetown University Law Center and sued all 10 fake electors—and won. They had to state that Joe Biden was the true winner in Wisconsin and agreed never to be a Trump elector again. They also agreed to cooperate with the DoJ's investigation of the fake electors scheme.
Nevertheless, some of the fake electors "got away" with it. Fake elector Robert Spindell Jr. is still on the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Despite being criminally indicted, fake elector Stanley Grot is still clerk of the affluent Detroit suburb of Shelby Township and tasked with maintaining the voter rolls and administering this year's election. Another fake Michigan elector, Michele Lundgren, is running for the Michigan House. In Georgia, fake elector Burt Jones ran for lieutenant governor and won. So far, none of the fake electors, whose crime is now almost 4 years old, have been convicted. If the judicial system had to race against a snail, the snail would win by a large margin. (V)