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Sixteen Republican Party leaders in Michigan attempted to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election by submitting fake Electoral College documents to Congress as part of the January 6, 2021, certification process.
According to Michigan Advance, the 16 fake electors mailed signed, notarized certificates to Congress and the National Archives purporting to be official Electoral College votes for Trump. Two of the fake electors were subsequently subpoenaed by the Department of Justice for their roles in the scheme and in January 2022, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel referred an investigation into the fake electors to federal prosecutors.
In October 2023, one of the fake electors—James Renner, aged 74 at the time—reached a “cooperation agreement” with the attorney general’s office in exchange for having all criminal charges dropped against him. The remaining 15 fake electors have, like Renner, pleaded not guilty to the eight criminal charges the state brought against them in July 2023.
Meshawn Maddock, a Trump loyalist, former co-chair of the Michigan GOP, and one of the fake electors facing charges, accused the attorney general of having “a personal vendetta” against her. “This is part of a national coordinated” effort to prevent Trump’s reelection, she claims.
In July 2024, Maddock was one of four fake electors chosen as Michigan delegates to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Matthew DePerno, a failed candidate for Michigan attorney general who is running for the state Supreme Court in 2024, also attended the convention despite facing criminal charges for allegedly plotting to access and seize voting machines in 2020.
Politico reported that in December 2020, Christina Bobb, then a One America News anchor and subsequently a legal representative for the former president, briefed a group of Trump’s lawyers on the scheme the day before fake electors met in their various states.
January 6, 2021
- Fake elector Meshawn Maddock, then co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, and her husband Matt Maddock, a Michigan state representative, helped organize buses to take Trump supporters to the March to Save America and were among the crowd that stormed the Capitol that afternoon. Michigan State House Republicans kicked him out of their caucus as a result.
The Big Lie
- The following 16 fake electors from Michigan signed bogus documents claiming that Trump had won the 2020 election in their state:
- Kathy Berden: national committeewoman of the Michigan Republican Party
- Hank Choate: former chair of the Jackson County Republican Party
- Amy Facchinello: a member of the school board in Grand Blanc and former executive board member of the Genesee County Republican Party. Facchinello was subsequently subpoenaed by the Department of Justice and also promoted QAnon conspiracy theories on social media.
- Clifford Frost: a member of the Michigan Republican Party State Committee and a board member for the Macomb County GOP
- Stanley Grot: Shelby Township clerk and chair of the 10th District Republican Party. Grot ran for secretary of state in 2018 but was paid by Michigan Republican Party Chair Ron Weiser to withdraw, which resulted in a $200,000 fine but no criminal charges.
- John Haggard: owner of Haggard’s Plumbing and Heating in Charlevoix, Michigan
- Mari-Ann Henry: treasurer of the Greater Oakland Republican Club
- Timothy King: a member of the executive committee of the Washtenaw County Republican Party and 12th District Republican Committee
- Michele Lundgren: a 2020 Republican delegate for her precinct who was subsequently subpoenaed by the Department of Justice
- Meshawn Maddock: co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party and a member of the national advisory board of Women for Trump. Married to Michigan State Representative Matt Maddock.
- James Renner: 2020 precinct delegate for Watertown Township. In October 2023, the state dropped all criminal charges against him after he reached a cooperation deal with the attorney general’s office.
- Mayra Rodriguez: Grosse Pointe Farms chair for the 14th District Republican Committee
- Rose Rook: a former Democrat who changed parties and served as the Van Buren County GOP chair and president of the Van Buren County Republican Women’s Club
- Marian Sheridan: director of the Lakes Area Tea Party, co-founder of the Michigan Conservative Coalition, executive board member of the Oakland County Republican Party, and grassroots vice chair for the Michigan Republican Party
- Ken Thompson
- Kent Vanderwood: chair of the Second District Republican Committee of Michigan
- These two individuals originally planned to act as fake electors but were ultimately replaced:
- Terri Lynn Land: a former Michigan secretary of state
- Geral Wall: chair of the Roscommon County Republican Party