PHOENIX — One of former President Donald Trump's top aides was arraigned in Arizona, facing charges for his part in the "fake electors" scheme that sought to falsely certify the 2020 election for Trump.
Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff, appeared virtually in court to enter a not guilty plea Friday morning.
Meadows was one of 18 people, including 11 Arizona Republicans, indicted earlier this year on nine felony charges each including conspiracy and fraud. Prominent figures like Rudy Giuliani, former Arizona GOP chairwoman Kelli Ward and state Sens. Anthony Kern and Jake Hoffman.
Also arraigned alongside Meadows was Michael "Mike" Roman, the director of Election-Day operations for Trump's 2020 campaign. Both men are facing charges in multiple states including Wisconsin and Georgia. Roman also entered a not guilty plea.
So far, all of the defendants who have been arraigned in Arizona pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Trump lost the state of Arizona in 2020, despite unfounded allegations of fraud and multiple court challenges.
The indictment alleges the 18 defendants weren't really concerned about who actually won the election. Instead, Attorney General Kris Mayes said, they wanted to give former Vice President Mike Pence the option to overturn the election on his own.
"The defendants intended that the false votes for Trump and Pence would encourage Vice President Pence to reject the certified Biden-Harris electors' votes, regardless of the result of any legal challenge," Mayes said in a video announcing the indictment in April.
Mayes said, none of the "fake electors" were elected and representing the state in any capacity, as the election had already been decided when they signed off on phony documentation claiming to be a slate of chosen electors.
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