Most of the 18 defendants in the 2020 election case have already entered not guilty pleas, including former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, former state party GOP chair Kelli Ward and the pro-Trump electors who participated in a strategy that prosecutors say sought to deny Biden his rightful electoral victory. On Thursday, state Sen. Jake Hoffman (R) also pleaded not guilty. He, too, appeared by video, with artwork of Ronald Reagan donning a cowboy hat displayed behind him. Later in the day, Hoffman and another co-defendant, state Sen. Anthony Kern (R), were in the crowd when Trump made his first appearance in the battleground state since his criminal conviction in New York. To cheers, the former president called his trial “rigged” and said that “there was no crime.”
Trump was not charged in Arizona but was described in the indictment as an unindicted co-conspirator.
After Trump’s defeat in 2020, his allies worked with attorneys, campaign aides and Republican activists in seven states to employ a strategy to try to award the states’ electoral votes to Trump instead of Biden, according to state and federal prosecutors and previously released records. Most of the Arizona defendants or their attorneys have long maintained they have done nothing wrong, but state prosecutors contend that they illegally attempted to facilitate obstruction of the certification of Biden’s victory in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Attorneys and several of the defendants have cast the indictment as politically motivated.
Meadows appeared via streaming video in the basement courtroom, wearing a dark suit and royal blue tie. His attorney told the commissioner that Meadows had already completed his booking requirements, which include a mug shot and fingerprints. It is unclear whether the sheriff’s office has received the material; a spokesperson from the office said Friday that “there are no updates” about the availability of Meadows’s mug shot.
As Trump’s last White House chief of staff, Meadows was among those close to the president who allegedly evaluated a plan for how legislatures could overturn the will of voters through appointing alternate slates of Trump electors. Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.) was among the GOP members of Congress who communicated with Meadows about a version of such a strategy, according to text messages obtained by a House committee that investigated the origins of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Meadows was charged in Georgia last year with criminally conspiring to try to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss in that state and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer for his involvement in Trump’s January 2021 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) during which Trump tried to pressure the official to reverse Biden’s victory. The latter charge was dismissed this year, with the judge overseeing the case saying the indictment lacked “sufficient detail.”
Meanwhile, Meadows has played down his role in the elector plan, testifying in federal court that he had no role in the effort. Prosecutors, however, have introduced evidence that showed Meadows in December 2020 emailing about the elector plan with a longtime Trump campaign aide.
After technical difficulties, Roman took his turn, appearing in front of a blank wall and wearing a suit and tie. Afterward, his attorney in Arizona, Kurt Altman, said that the charges against Roman are “excessive” and “unwarranted.”
“We don’t understand why the charges were brought in the first place,” Altman said.
After Trump’s defeat, records show that Roman helped coordinate the alternate elector plan with Trump lawyers. He played a key role in helping organize the strategy and communicated about the Arizona plan with key Republicans in the state, including the state party chair and others, according to documents.
He was charged with seven counts in the Atlanta area last year, all of which were related to his alleged involvement with the alternate electors in that state. On Tuesday, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) charged Roman and two others with one felony count each of conspiracy to commit forgery, according to the criminal complaints. The charges are tied to the elector plan.
“It looks like there may be a concerted effort to get people to give up,” Altman said, standing outside the courthouse in Phoenix. “Mr. Roman does not plan to give up.”
Three other defendants in the case are scheduled to plead not guilty on June 18. They include Boris Epshteyn, who remains close to the former president and is a top adviser for his 2024 campaign.
Holly Bailey in Atlanta contributed to this report.
