Donald Trump’s campaign was directly involved with putting together a team to create a false certificate that said he won the 2020 presidential election.
Former Michigan Republican Party Communications Director Tony Zammit said he thought people such as Trump lawyer Shawn Flynn had taken advantage of people who ended up signing the document.
“I thought they were going along with what the lawyers were telling them,” he said in a preliminary hearing Thursday, according toThe Detroit News. Zammit said the meeting took place on December 14.
Joe Biden won Michigan and its 16 electoral votes by a margin of just 2.78 percentage points. It was the seventh-closest state result in the election.
Zammit’s testimony came in the preliminary hearings of six Republican electors charged with “intent to defraud” by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office.
The six are part of 16 charged in the case—all 16 attended the December 14 meeting—and Zammit was one of three to testify Thursday. The 16, all charged with criminal forgery, signed a document that falsely said Trump won Michigan and was filed to the National Archives and Congress.
Upon reviewing evidence and testimony, Judge Kristen Simmons will rule at the end of the hearings if there is enough to send the cases to jury trial. The next set of hearings is scheduled for February.
Zammit’s testimony may make it more difficult to prove that the 16 signatories had full knowledge of what they were doing.
“Clearly, they’re relying on lawyers from the Trump campaign that are the ones that are telling them what to do,” said Paul Stablein, lawyer for charged Republican elector Amy Facchinello, according to theDetroit News.
Zammit said he heard Flynn say: “Can you believe that I have to send this to the secretary of state, the vice president and the National Archives?”Newsweekhas reached out to Flynn via email for comment.
During the hearings this week, former state GOP Chair Laura Cox testified she approved a document that Republican electors would cast votes for Trump if the election result was overturned. Cox said this would not have occurred unless a formal process overturned the results, such as decision by a court.
Also in Michigan this week, the state Court of Appeals confirmed that it would not prevent Trump from appearing on the presidential ballot in 2024. Trump is running to be the Republican candidate once again and has streaked ahead in the polls.
In a 3-0 opinion, the appeals court said it was for parties to decide their candidates, not a Michigan court
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