Michigan announces felony charges for 16 Trump-backed electors who tried to overturn the election

• Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges against 16 "fake" electors.
• The felony charges mark a historic first against a pro-Trump scheme to overturn the 2020 election.

Michigan Attorney Dana Nessel announced on Tuesday felony charges against 16 people who sought to act as so-called "fake electors" in a bid to overturn the state's election results and hand the swing state to then-President Donald Trump.

"This plan to reject the will of the voters to overturn the will of the voters and undermine democracy was fraudulent and legally baseless," Nessel said in a video announcing the indictments.

Some major names in Michigan politics will be facing charges. According to The Detroit News, former Michigan Republican Party co-Chairwoman Meshawn Maddock is among the 16.

Nessel's decision is the first time that pro-Trump electors who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election are facing state charges. They are often called fake electors since President Joe Biden's electors were the duly elected representatives based on the state's certified election results.

"We allege that 16 Michigan residents met covertly in the basement of Michigan GOP headquarters and knowingly, of their own volition, signed statements that they were the duly elected and qualified electors for the president and vice president of the United States of America," Nessel said. "That was a lie."

The House January 6 committee found that Trump and his allies hope by installing alternate electors that they might get Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results or return disputes back to state legislatures that could then declare Trump the winner.

Each of the 16 individuals will face charges related to forgery generally and election law forgery, specifically.

Nessel said that ultimately she knew the conduct must result in criminal charges.

"The most political act I could take as a prosecutor would be to take no action at all," she said.

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