Current:Home > reviewsFake Michigan Certificate of Votes mailed to U.S. Senate after 2020 presidential vote, official says -FundGuru
Fake Michigan Certificate of Votes mailed to U.S. Senate after 2020 presidential vote, official says
View
Date:2025-04-25 21:24:04
A fake Certificate of Votes was submitted to the U.S. Senate following Michigan’s 2020 presidential election, an official testified Tuesday during a preliminary hearing for six people facing forgery and other charges for allegedly serving as false electors.
But that “purported” Certificate of Votes didn’t match an official document signed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and featuring the Michigan state seal, said Dan Schwager, who served in 2020-2021 as general counsel to the secretary of the Senate.
“We could tell it was not an authorized Certificate of Votes. It was a fake,” Schwager testified in Lansing District Court.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has charged 15 Republicans in the case. Investigators have said the group signed a document during a meeting at the Michigan Republican headquarters on Dec. 14, 2020, falsely stating they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified electors.”
The defendants have insisted that their actions were not illegal, even though Joe Biden won Michigan by nearly 155,000 votes over then-President Donald Trump, a result confirmed by a GOP-led state Senate investigation in 2021.
Fake electors in Michigan and six other battleground states sent certificates to Congress falsely declaring Trump the winner of the 2020 presidential election in their state, despite confirmed results showing he had lost. Michigan, Georgia and Nevada have charged fake electors. Republicans who served as false electors in Wisconsin agreed to a legal settlement in which they conceded that Biden won the election and that their efforts were part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 results.
Schwager said Tuesday the false Michigan document arrived Jan. 5, 2021, to the U.S. Senate’s mail services and that he reviewed it a few days later.
“The Michigan one came in a little bit late and so it was added to the collection of the other fake certificates,” he said.
Schwager also said it was “not uncommon to get one or two often really wacky submissions from people claiming to be electors that are way out there.”
“I think we get maybe one or two or three every four or eight years, or something,” he added.
Miriam Vincent, acting director of Legal Affairs and Policy for the Office of the Federal Register, testified Tuesday that “materials purported to be Certificate of Votes from non-official sources” were received by her office which is part of the National Archives.
The return address listed the Michigan Republican Party, Vincent said.
In December, former Michigan GOP Communications Director Anthony Zammit testified that he believes an attorney for Trump’s campaign “took advantage” of some of the 15 Republicans.
Preliminary hearings don’t involve a jury and are for the judge to determine if there is sufficient evidence to substantiate the charges.
Six defendants are having their cases heard together. A seventh, Kenneth Thompson, had his case postponed because his attorney didn’t show up. The other eight defendants will have preliminary examinations at later dates.
veryGood! (4942)
Related
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Tom Brady Shares His and Ex Gisele Bundchen's Parenting Game Plan
- Jobs vs prices: the Fed's dueling mandates
- Charles Ponzi's scheme
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- New York orders Trump companies to pay $1.6M for tax fraud
- Google is cutting 12,000 jobs, adding to a series of Big Tech layoffs in January
- A Complete Timeline of Teresa Giudice's Feud With the Gorgas and Where Their RHONJ Costars Stand
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Zendaya Feeds Tom Holland Ice Cream on Romantic London Stroll, Proving They’re the Coolest Couple
Ranking
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- PGA Tour says U.S. golf would likely struggle without Saudi cash infusion
- Activists Eye a Superfund Reboot Under Biden With a Focus on Environmental Justice and Climate Change
- As Biden Eyes a Conservation Plan, Activists Fear Low-Income Communities and People of Color Could Be Left Out
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Drier Springs Bring Hotter Summers in the Withering Southwest
- CEO predictions, rural voters on the economy and IRS audits
- Amazon ends its charity donation program AmazonSmile after other cost-cutting efforts
Recommendation
IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
'It's like gold': Onions now cost more than meat in the Philippines
Charles Ponzi's scheme
Get In on the Quiet Luxury Trend With Mind-Blowing Tory Burch Deals up to 70% Off
Sam Taylor
Inside Clean Energy: An Energy Snapshot in 5 Charts
Will 2021 Be the Year for Environmental Justice Legislation? States Are Already Leading the Way
Get In on the Quiet Luxury Trend With Mind-Blowing Tory Burch Deals up to 70% Off