Dem
51
GOP
49
We have written a number of times about how some of the people ensnared in legal cases with Donald Trump might flip, not only to save their own skin, but to avoid lawyers' bills of $300,000 and up. It turns out that for low-level players, at least, that may not happen as much as we at first thought. Michigan AG Dana Nessel has charged all of the 16 fake electors in Michigan. The crimes include one count of conspiracy to commit forgery (14 years), two counts of forgery itself (14 years each), and five other counts for things like conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing. If you go to Michigan be careful not to utter. All in all, each fake elector could be looking at 85 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
All of the fake electors are party activists and all are on the older side, ranging in age from 55 to 82. One is also a mayor. For a 55-year old, 85 years means not getting out until you are 140. With time off for good behavior, maybe 120. None of them are current or former big shots, like, say, Rudy Giuliani or Mark Meadows. Nobody is holding $100,000 a plate fundraisers for them. They are all on their own.
Under these circumstances, one might think they would all be bumping into each other trying to get through the door of Nessel's office to flip. But Nessel says it is not happening. None of them have flipped, despite the long odds (she has their signatures on forged documents), and the great legal expenses ahead. She said all of them have been brainwashed. They all genuinely and truly believe that Donald Trump won in 2020 and they are heroes and patriots for sticking up for him to get him the job he actually is entitled to. How could someone who truly believes that Trump won plead guilty and say: "I know he lost but the devil put me up to it!"? That would be lying (under oath, eventually). If you state something under oath that is true but you think it is false and you think you are lying, that is not perjury. Still, none of the fake electors have figured that out yet.
Kevin Kijewski, a lawyer for fake elector Clifford Frost (75) said that Nessel's remarks (about brainwashing) were "disturbing" and undermine the possibility of a fair trial for his client. On the other hand, Frost just posted a message to Facebook entitled "Trump won Michigan in 2020." Maybe he wants to pioneer the brainwashing defense. The first hearings in the 16 cases will be in October and November. (V)